Kerry to stay on top of Florida vote

March 8, 2004 | HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- John Kerry is determined not to lose Florida's 27 electoral votes in a swamp of recounts and recriminations this fall, vowing to mount an early legal challenge in any district that might repeat the problems that bedeviled Democratic supporters in 2000.

"Not only do we want a record level of turnout to vote, we want to guarantee that every vote is counted," the presumptive Democratic nominee told about 500 people at a town hall meeting Monday.


Kerry rarely mentions the legal battle over the 2000 election while campaigning, but he did so repeatedly in the state that was the epicenter four years ago. Responding to a voter who asked, "What can you do to prevent them from stealing the election again?", Kerry, a lawyer and former Massachusetts prosecutor, said his campaign was assembling a legal team to examine districts which had problems.

"We're going to pre-check it, we're going to have the legal team in place. ... We're going to take injunctions where necessary ahead of time. We'll pre-challenge if necessary," the four-term Massachusetts senator said.

I'm impressed. Go big John! Bring em on! You are the man!-Bush is just a measly little coward that talks big.

http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/03/08/kerry_florida/index.html

Sounds like an indirect reference to BBV. Imperfect, but I'll take it. Just happy to see that it's on Kerry's radar screen.

Now follow through on it!

Given the history of Florida's state-sponsored injustices, no election there should be considered over on the same night.

What's really needed are election monitors and video cameras to record all interactions between voters and their state obstructors (cops and election officials) for use in a legal process that can restore an individual's right to vote in the just-concluded election.

That wouldn't stop the biggest mechanism of fraud: disenfranchisement of voters for "mistaken" felony convictions. For that, a transparent auditing process is needed.

And that doesn't even touch the question of who's making the voting machinesk, a scandal in itself.

The scale of the effort to restore voting rights in Florida is so grand that it won't occur; it would take an intervention on a fairly large scale, probably requiring federal troops in some instances. In its absence we can safely expect another banana republic exercise this year - and, with Diebold to thank, not just in Florida.

they're not going to take any shit this time.

only to steal another state or two while we're busy looking at Florida. I suspect Ohio. Vigilance, everyone!