An editorial
Don't certify Ohio results
Wed Jan 5, 2005 19:34
64.140.158.126
Don't certify Ohio results
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=23419&ntpid=0
An editorial
January 5, 2005
The law of the land requires that, on a specified day following a presidential election, the Congress of the United States must certify the results of that election as having met the standards of legitimacy that should hold sway in the nation that describes itself as "the world's greatest democracy."
This is done before a joint session of the House and Senate when the electoral votes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are opened, counted and then accepted as a fair and accurate representation of the will of the people in each of the jurisdictions involved.
The specified day for congressional certification of electoral votes is Thursday, Jan. 6, and it provides a rare opportunity to examine the troubled election systems of this country. If members of the House and Senate are honest with themselves, they will refuse to certify the electoral votes from the state of Ohio. The point of such a refusal is not to overturn the presidential election, or even to force a new vote in Ohio, where U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, says that there remain "numerous unexplained irregularities in the ... presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law."
At the behest of Ohioans who objected to the handling of the election, Conyers and the minority staff of the Judiciary Committee have conducted hearings and investigations of instances of voter disenfranchisement, flawed or corrupted voting machinery, and inappropriate procedures for counting and recounting votes. They have produced a compelling report itemizing and analyzing the irregularities. On the basis of that report, Conyers plans to object to the certification of the Ohio results.
Conyers will be joined by several members of the House, and we hope that U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who has previously joined Conyers in expressing concern about the Ohio irregularities, will be among them. More importantly, we hope that both Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will join members of the House in objecting to the certification of the Ohio results.
Under the rules, when the electoral votes of each state are announced, the president of the Senate calls for objections. To force a debate, a written objection must be signed by at least one senator and one member of the House. If that standard is met, the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body engages in a two-hour debate on the matter. Unless both the Senate and the House separately agree to the objection, the challenged electoral votes are counted.
Considering the partisan divide in both the House and Senate, which favors the Republican Party, it is unlikely that either chamber would agree to the objection. Thus, the raising of an objection is not going to block President Bush from gaining a second term. Rather, it would focus attention on legitimate concerns that have been raised regarding the Ohio vote and count, and on broader concerns about America's inconsistent and often flawed election processes - which vary so radically from state to state that genuine equal protection concerns arise.
Indeed, the tightly focused debate that would follow upon acceptance of an objection could be just what is needed to get this Congress, and this country, talking about the steps that must be taken to ensure that American elections provide a true representation of the people's will. Yet as of now, no senators have expressed their intention to sign the statement of objection to certifying the Ohio results. It is for this reason that we urge Feingold and Kohl to join Conyers and members of the House in forcing a debate.
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Just One Senator...An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0105-25.htm
by Michael Moore
Published on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 by MichaelMoore.com
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate,
Welcome back! The 109th session of Congress has just begun. I'm watching you on C-SPAN right now and you all look so snap-happy and clean-faced. It's like the first day of school all over again, isn't it?
I have a favor to ask of you. Something isn't right with the vote from Ohio. Seems a lot of people didn't get to vote. And those who did, thousands of theirs weren't counted.
Does that seem right to you? I'm just asking. Forget about partisan politics for a moment and ask yourself if there is a more basic right, in a democracy, than the right of the people to vote AND have ALL their votes counted.
Now, I know a lot of you wish this little problem of Ohio would just go away. And many of you who wish this are Democrats. You just want to move on (no pun intended!). I can't say I blame you. It's rough to lose two elections in a row when the first one you actually won and the second one you should have won. And it seems this time around, about 3 million more Americans preferred to continue the war in Iraq and give the rich more tax breaks than those who didn't. No sense living in denial about that.
But something isn't right in Ohio and more than a dozen members of the House of Representatives believe it is worth investigating.
So on Thursday at 1:00pm, Rep. John Conyers of Detroit will rise and object to the vote count in Ohio. According to the laws of this land, he will not be allowed to speak unless at least one of you -- one member of the United States Senate -- agrees to let him have the floor.
A very embarrassing moment during the last session of Congress occurred in the first week when none of you would allow the members of Congress who were black to have the floor to object to the Florida vote count. Remember that? You thought no one would ever notice, didn't you? You certainly lucked out that night when the networks decided not to show how you shut down every single member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
No such luck this year. Everyone now knows about that moment of shame. Thank you? You're welcome.
But this Thursday, at 1:00pm, you will have a chance to redeem yourself.
Congressman Conyers and a dozen other members of Congress have some serious questions about how the Republican secretary of state in Ohio (who was also the state's co-chair of Bush's reelection campaign) conducted the election on November 2. The list of possible offenses of how voters were denied access to the polls and how over a hundred thousand of their votes have yet to be counted is more than worthy of your consideration. It may not change the outcome, but you have a supreme responsibility to make sure that EVERY vote is counted. Who amongst you would disagree with that?
If you would like to read more about the specific charges, I ask that you read these two links: "Senators Should Object to Ohio Vote" —by Jesse Jackson and "Ten Preliminary Reasons Why the Bush Vote Does Not Compute, and Why Congress Must Investigate Rather Than Certify the Electoral College". I am asking everyone on my mailing list to send you a letter joining me in this call to you to do your job and investigate what happened before you certify the vote.
It only takes one member of the House and one member of the Senate to stop the acceptance of the Electoral College vote and force a legitimate debate and investigation. Do you know why this provision is set in stone in our nation's laws? I mean, why would we allow just two officials in a body of 535 members to throw a wrench into the works? The law exists because nothing is more sacred than the integrity of the ballot box and if there is ANY possibility of fraud or incompetence, then it MUST be addressed. Because if we don't have the vote, what are we left with?
C'mon Senators! Especially you Democrats. Here is your one shining moment of courage. Will you allow the gavel to come down on our black members of Congress once again? Or will you stand up for their right to object?
We will all be watching.
Yours,
Michael Moore
http://www.michaelmoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com
P.S. My whereabouts this week: I will be on the Today Show Thursday morning, Jay Leno on Friday night. And... the People's Choice Awards are this Sunday night, live on CBS at 9pm! Can we defeat the superheroes Spiderman, Incredibles and Shrek for best picture? A documentary??? Whoa... tune in...
=========
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=23419&ntpid=0
An editorial
January 5, 2005
The law of the land requires that, on a specified day following a presidential election, the Congress of the United States must certify the results of that election as having met the standards of legitimacy that should hold sway in the nation that describes itself as "the world's greatest democracy."
This is done before a joint session of the House and Senate when the electoral votes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are opened, counted and then accepted as a fair and accurate representation of the will of the people in each of the jurisdictions involved.
The specified day for congressional certification of electoral votes is Thursday, Jan. 6, and it provides a rare opportunity to examine the troubled election systems of this country. If members of the House and Senate are honest with themselves, they will refuse to certify the electoral votes from the state of Ohio. The point of such a refusal is not to overturn the presidential election, or even to force a new vote in Ohio, where U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, says that there remain "numerous unexplained irregularities in the ... presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law."
At the behest of Ohioans who objected to the handling of the election, Conyers and the minority staff of the Judiciary Committee have conducted hearings and investigations of instances of voter disenfranchisement, flawed or corrupted voting machinery, and inappropriate procedures for counting and recounting votes. They have produced a compelling report itemizing and analyzing the irregularities. On the basis of that report, Conyers plans to object to the certification of the Ohio results.
Conyers will be joined by several members of the House, and we hope that U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who has previously joined Conyers in expressing concern about the Ohio irregularities, will be among them. More importantly, we hope that both Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will join members of the House in objecting to the certification of the Ohio results.
Under the rules, when the electoral votes of each state are announced, the president of the Senate calls for objections. To force a debate, a written objection must be signed by at least one senator and one member of the House. If that standard is met, the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body engages in a two-hour debate on the matter. Unless both the Senate and the House separately agree to the objection, the challenged electoral votes are counted.
Considering the partisan divide in both the House and Senate, which favors the Republican Party, it is unlikely that either chamber would agree to the objection. Thus, the raising of an objection is not going to block President Bush from gaining a second term. Rather, it would focus attention on legitimate concerns that have been raised regarding the Ohio vote and count, and on broader concerns about America's inconsistent and often flawed election processes - which vary so radically from state to state that genuine equal protection concerns arise.
Indeed, the tightly focused debate that would follow upon acceptance of an objection could be just what is needed to get this Congress, and this country, talking about the steps that must be taken to ensure that American elections provide a true representation of the people's will. Yet as of now, no senators have expressed their intention to sign the statement of objection to certifying the Ohio results. It is for this reason that we urge Feingold and Kohl to join Conyers and members of the House in forcing a debate.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Just One Senator...An Open Letter to the U.S. Senate
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0105-25.htm
by Michael Moore
Published on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 by MichaelMoore.com
Dear Members of the U.S. Senate,
Welcome back! The 109th session of Congress has just begun. I'm watching you on C-SPAN right now and you all look so snap-happy and clean-faced. It's like the first day of school all over again, isn't it?
I have a favor to ask of you. Something isn't right with the vote from Ohio. Seems a lot of people didn't get to vote. And those who did, thousands of theirs weren't counted.
Does that seem right to you? I'm just asking. Forget about partisan politics for a moment and ask yourself if there is a more basic right, in a democracy, than the right of the people to vote AND have ALL their votes counted.
Now, I know a lot of you wish this little problem of Ohio would just go away. And many of you who wish this are Democrats. You just want to move on (no pun intended!). I can't say I blame you. It's rough to lose two elections in a row when the first one you actually won and the second one you should have won. And it seems this time around, about 3 million more Americans preferred to continue the war in Iraq and give the rich more tax breaks than those who didn't. No sense living in denial about that.
But something isn't right in Ohio and more than a dozen members of the House of Representatives believe it is worth investigating.
So on Thursday at 1:00pm, Rep. John Conyers of Detroit will rise and object to the vote count in Ohio. According to the laws of this land, he will not be allowed to speak unless at least one of you -- one member of the United States Senate -- agrees to let him have the floor.
A very embarrassing moment during the last session of Congress occurred in the first week when none of you would allow the members of Congress who were black to have the floor to object to the Florida vote count. Remember that? You thought no one would ever notice, didn't you? You certainly lucked out that night when the networks decided not to show how you shut down every single member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
No such luck this year. Everyone now knows about that moment of shame. Thank you? You're welcome.
But this Thursday, at 1:00pm, you will have a chance to redeem yourself.
Congressman Conyers and a dozen other members of Congress have some serious questions about how the Republican secretary of state in Ohio (who was also the state's co-chair of Bush's reelection campaign) conducted the election on November 2. The list of possible offenses of how voters were denied access to the polls and how over a hundred thousand of their votes have yet to be counted is more than worthy of your consideration. It may not change the outcome, but you have a supreme responsibility to make sure that EVERY vote is counted. Who amongst you would disagree with that?
If you would like to read more about the specific charges, I ask that you read these two links: "Senators Should Object to Ohio Vote" —by Jesse Jackson and "Ten Preliminary Reasons Why the Bush Vote Does Not Compute, and Why Congress Must Investigate Rather Than Certify the Electoral College". I am asking everyone on my mailing list to send you a letter joining me in this call to you to do your job and investigate what happened before you certify the vote.
It only takes one member of the House and one member of the Senate to stop the acceptance of the Electoral College vote and force a legitimate debate and investigation. Do you know why this provision is set in stone in our nation's laws? I mean, why would we allow just two officials in a body of 535 members to throw a wrench into the works? The law exists because nothing is more sacred than the integrity of the ballot box and if there is ANY possibility of fraud or incompetence, then it MUST be addressed. Because if we don't have the vote, what are we left with?
C'mon Senators! Especially you Democrats. Here is your one shining moment of courage. Will you allow the gavel to come down on our black members of Congress once again? Or will you stand up for their right to object?
We will all be watching.
Yours,
Michael Moore
http://www.michaelmoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com
P.S. My whereabouts this week: I will be on the Today Show Thursday morning, Jay Leno on Friday night. And... the People's Choice Awards are this Sunday night, live on CBS at 9pm! Can we defeat the superheroes Spiderman, Incredibles and Shrek for best picture? A documentary??? Whoa... tune in...
=========
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