Heads up: Conyers hearings in Columbus (the thing I said was coming)

PRESS ADVISORY
Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

Fourteenth District, Michigan
Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
Dean, Congressional Black Caucus

------------FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

December 10, 2004
Dena Graziano (202) 226-6888
REP. CONYERS, STRICKLAND, AND OTHER CONGRESSMEN, ALONG WITH REV. JACKSON TO HOLD 2004 ELECTION FORUM

Rep. John Conyers, Jr, and other Representatives along with Rev.
Jesse Jackson will be holding a congressional forum in Columbus concerning
new evidence of election irregularities and fraud in Ohio and to discuss
legislative and other responses to the problems.

WHAT: "2004 Election Forum"

WHEN: Monday, December 13th @ 10:30am

WHERE: North Hearing Room, Ohio State Capitol, Columbus, OH

WHO: Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Rep. Ted Strickland
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Founder Rainbow Push Coalition
Prof. Robert Fitrakis, Editor, The Free Press
Cliff Arnebeck, Arnebeck Associates
John Bonifaz, General Counsel, National Voting Institute
Gregory Moore, Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund

Now how can we get c-span there also??? Mon is a big day - the Arnebeck lawsuit - this hearing and the electors assembling...and I think some counties are beginning the recount...go Ohio!!

This increases my confidence that at least some people in congress are looking at this seriously and not just going through the motions to shut up the "conspiracy theorists."

I was thinking about going over there, anyway....

And should we be calling C-span to make sure they show it?

Thanks, Will.

:thumbsup:

I have to go to LA on Wednesday.

As for C-SPAN, hell yes.

Sent an email to C-span.

KICK:kick:

...just in case you didn't see it, here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Unsettled-Election.html?oref=login

Peace.

"When Did Bush Know?"

Doubts Persist About Election Results
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: December 10, 2004


Filed at 4:23 p.m. ET

As the Electoral College prepares to certify President Bush's re-election on Monday, concerns persist about the integrity of the nation's voting system -- particularly in Ohio, where details continue to emerge of technology failures, voter confusion and overcrowded polling stations in minority and poor neighborhoods.

Few mainstream politicians dispute Bush's victory, and the incumbent's 3.5 million-vote margin nationwide was wider than any of the reported problems, which included insufficient or incomplete provisional ballots and, in some places, brazen partisan shenanigans.

But that is not stopping a disparate assortment of personalities -- prominent among them Democratic congressman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and presidential candidates of the Green and Libertarian parties -- from questioning the accuracy of certified results and demanding investigations.

Of greatest concern is the extent of disenfranchisement in the critical swing state of Ohio, whose 20 electoral votes guaranteed Bush's victory.

``It's critical that we investigate and understand any and every voting irregularity anywhere in our country, not because it would change the outcome of the election but because Americans have to believe that their votes are counted in our democracy,'' John Kerry said this week, after calling for a statewide recount in Ohio.

The nation's voting system, despite improvements since the 2000 Florida fiasco, remains a locally administered patchwork whose lack of national uniformity distinguishes the United States from many other democracies.

Although most complaints have come from Democrats and the third-party candidates, Republicans and bipartisan groups acknowledge problems. The Government Accountability Office is investigating election problems. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio and chairman of the House Administration Committee, will oversee an inquiry next year.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, created in 2002, is also scrutinizing the outcome. It plans to publish in January the government's first report on the voting, which will serve as the basis for congressional recommendations and reforms.

``We definitely did not have a glitch-free election,'' said EAC chairman DeForest Soaries Jr., a Bush appointee.

Rev. Jackson and other activists want wholesale changes in the U.S. voting process, ideally before the 2006 midterm elections. Jackson says the most distressing problem appears to be the lack of nationwide standards. No federal agency enforces regulations when states or counties fail to comply with internal procedures.

Without national standards, he said, some poor counties have inferior equipment and insufficient numbers of voting machines to support dense populations.

``What we really need is a federal standard for elections, and we need a constitutional, individual, federally protected right to vote,'' said Jackson, president of the Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Grassroots activists say politicians who refuse to discuss voting concerns will lose respect -- and votes.

``If the Democratic leadership doesn't step up, why do they think that the activists on the ground -- the people who collected millions of dollars, made phone calls and registered people to vote -- would do it again in 2008?'' said Don Goldmacher of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club of Oakland, Calif.

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, has conceded that a recount would likely alter the vote tally somewhat. But he adamantly dismisses allegations of fraud.

``This was an election where you have some glitches but none of these glitches were of a conspiratorial nature and none of them would overturn or change the election results,'' Blackwell said on Monday when he certified the results.

In the last five weeks, activists have documented thousands of voting problems across the nation. The citizens' lobby group Common Cause received 210,000 phone calls to a hot line that logged complaints.

Electronic errors were so grave in Carteret County, N.C., that election administrators will hold a special election in early January to determine the next agriculture commissioner. Paperless touch-screen voting machines there failed to retain 4,438 votes during early voting before Nov. 2. The Democratic incumbent lost by just 2,287 votes out of about 3 million cast statewide.

In six states, including Florida and Texas, about three dozen voters complained that they selected Kerry on touch-screen machines but were shown as having voted for Bush until they revised their electronic ballot. Equipment manufacturers blamed the problem on miscalibration.

In New Orleans, poorly trained poll workers told thousands of voters to come back later in the day because they couldn't turn on new electronic voting equipment when polls opened.

And in a Franklin County, Ohio, a precinct where 638 voters cast ballots, a computer recorded 3,893 extra votes for President Bush. The error was corrected in the certified vote total, and local election workers have been unable to reproduce the error.

Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, began examining Ohio's problems in a hearing this past week attended by eight Democratic lawmakers.

Among his concerns was that voters in urban, minority and Democratic precincts waited in lines up to eight hours -- even though in Youngstown, election administrators had extra voting terminals stored in a warehouse. Conyers also charged that a ``campaign of deception'' directed some Democrats to wrong polling places, where they were forced to cast provisional ballots.

Last week, Conyers sent a letter to Blackwell asking him to cooperate in a Democratic investigation of ``substantial irregularities'' in Ohio, which certified a 119,000-vote margin for Bush. That is some 17,000 votes fewer than Blackwell's original estimate of 136,000.

The margin shrank primarily because of the Franklin county glitch, and the addition of overseas and provisional ballots. Provisional ballots -- meant to address concerns of voter disenfranchisement -- were cast by voters who showed up at the wrong precinct or without proper identification on Nov. 2.

Out of Ohio's 156,977 provisional ballots, about four in five, or 121,598 ballots, were ruled valid.

Will you be there to cover it? Next question, is there likely to be any media coverage on this -- or what do we need to do to try to push for coverage?

Thanks so much!

To get media coverage we need to bombard C-Span with e-mails requesting that they cover the hearing. There is definite coordination with the Arnebeck legal team, and the Judiciary Committee Democrats. It is not a coincidence that the hearings are taking place immediately after the filing of the challenge.

Ted Strickland getting involved.

:bounce:

I guess it's time to send another nastygram to Deb Pryce chiding her for her uninvolvement.

Wow that was fast..the lawsuit being filed & and the hearing the same day ...no accident with this??:bounce: :bounce:

hmmm. SOunds good.Thanks Will:7

They are coming right out and saying it!

I'd really like to go.

Call the number provided for any details.

I called the number and this Dena answered saying, "Go ahead Jerry." LOL

It is open to the public, BTW.

this idea last night. It sounds like a good idea to me to ask if he might like to get involved, and he has the high profile that could get lots of attention.

On the other hand, maybe this isn't a good idea, because his presence, like that of Kerry, if he were to attend (I hope he doesn't), would overshadow the rest of the proceedings.

THanks Mr. Pitt. You the MAN!!

I am so glad to hear that they are going to Ohio. I was afraid it wasn't going to be for a week or so and I am so relieved to hear they will be there Monday!!!!

I thanked them for airing this weeks' hearing, and encouraged/begged them to air Monday's.

mailto:events@c-span.org

direct number that was posted last week when we were contacting them to broadcast the first hearing.

I also sent CSPAN an e-mail requesting coverage.

You go, guy.


Patriots and Red Sox Rock !

Hard to do if you won't even attend the hearings! LOL

Is he going to be there again?

I hope so.

I'll drop him a line.

....in Franklin County and be in Columbus at 10:30.

I guess they're going to file in Columbus. That seems to make sense.

Aren't they worried that too much coordination with Representative Conyers might make this look too partisan rather than non-partisan or bi-partisan?

Talk about standing up!

...."concerning
new evidence of election irregularities and fraud in Ohio "

keep the punters off the air this time. Judging from the admonition before the members of the public spoke, they feared the worst - and how right they were. What may be right for an Internet forum, is not necessarily right for a high-level open forum on national TV.

Of course, there was that wonderful young woman who declaimed so poignantly about the people's voices remaining unheard (implicitly, because of the wholesale fraud), while their children were expected to shed their blood and even give their lives), but because of the extremely egotistical disruption caused by some individuals before she spoke, when she began by saying that she just happened to be passing by, I wanted to slap her!

Rhodes from AAR - the call is described in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2812700

These are the citizens they need speaking.

Although it is great that they are coming to Ohio as promised, I'm disappointed that they are holding the hearing at 10:30 in the morning. I think a late afternoon or early evening hearing would have drawn more people. We heard all of the individual types of stories at the local hearings here but it would be great to get those kinds of stories before a couple of members of Congress. I also think a lot more people would show up to support the hearings if they didn't have to work then.... (Read: me :) )

cute. Why not say "fun-loving election hijinx." Or "Whacky election pranksters."
Have you ever read in the press about people who go into banks and write "this is a stick up" on the back of all the deposit slips? It's just a silly little prank. Just a joke. Just some shenanigans. But the Feds get really upset about it. The FBI takes it very seriously and if they catch the person responsible, that person is arrested.

But hey, that's money.

receipts or keep a paper trail? Oh, but that is just money? :shrug:

:silly:

I'm going to ask them if they can make a ten out of some singles and change. I'll only give them 6 bucks and then see what they do. When they ask for a recount I'm going tell them I already counted it. When they complain again I'm going to ask them how many times do they need to count it? When they complain some more, I'll tell them to get over it, move on and quit whining.

I am going to use that one, thanks. Welcome to DU :hi: Damn proud to greet you. :toast:

There's no shame in it, it's not begging. Just e-mail 'em. events@c-span.org

*laugh*

They are a great team...

Things are looking brighter these days.

those who can't be there .

Lest he decide to hold another impromptu speech and 'suck all the oxygen out of' Ohio. :eyes:



:hippie:

stop the Dean bashing

That was me-bashing. :)

This is big on Monday. I hope he has no PC planned. Or, Better yet, maybe he could actually attend the hearings! hehe