Thursday, April 06, 2006
Remember how nothing strange happened in Ohio in 2004?
Oh wait...maybe something a little strange. What with the precincts who gave more votes to Bush than there were registered voters, and the precints who just didn't bring enough ballots to work with them that day (you have the list of registered voters, all you have to do is make sure it matches!!!), and the long lines in predominantly African American areas...etc, etc, etc...
But now it turns out that in Cuyahoga County, the "recount" there wasn't so much of a "recount" and now people are going to jail. The article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer makes it clear there are no accusations of vote fraud, but it's definitely another black eye to the whole Ohio Electoral Board.
Thursday, April 06, 2006Joan Mazzolini Plain Dealer Reporter After the 2004 presidential election, Cuyahoga County election workers secretly skirted rules designed to make sure all votes were counted correctly, a special prosecutor charges.
Days before the Dec. 16 recount, workers opened the ballots and hand-counted enough votes to identify precincts where the machine count matched.
"If it didn't balance, they excluded those precincts," Baxter said.
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"They screwed with the process and increased the probability, if not the certainty, that there would not be a full countywide hand count," Baxter said.
Everyone expected the recount to "be conducted in accordance of the law," he said.
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Kathleen Martin, who headed the civil division at the prosecutor's office and worked with the board on the issues, has since died.
"If Kathleen Martin was still alive, she could put so much light on this," Vu said.
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But now it turns out that in Cuyahoga County, the "recount" there wasn't so much of a "recount" and now people are going to jail. The article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer makes it clear there are no accusations of vote fraud, but it's definitely another black eye to the whole Ohio Electoral Board.
After the 2004 presidential election, Cuyahoga County election workers secretly skirted rules designed to make sure all votes were counted correctly, a special prosecutor charges.
Days before the Dec. 16 recount, workers opened the ballots and hand-counted enough votes to identify precincts where the machine count matched.
"If it didn't balance, they excluded those precincts," Baxter said.
-------"They screwed with the process and increased the probability, if not the certainty, that there would not be a full countywide hand count," Baxter said.
Everyone expected the recount to "be conducted in accordance of the law," he said.
--------Kathleen Martin, who headed the civil division at the prosecutor's office and worked with the board on the issues, has since died.
"If Kathleen Martin was still alive, she could put so much light on this," Vu said.
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