ACTION ALERT: Boxer May sign on as Critical Senate Component to the Contesting of the 2004 Electoral Vote
Recall the aftermath of the catastrophic 'Election' of 2000. Vice President Gore had conceded and was presiding over a joint session of Congress to officially tally the electoral votes that would make George W. Bush the next president of the United States.
When it came time to count Florida's votes (in 2000), House Democrats, most of them members of the Congressional Black Caucus, rose one by one to object to the awarding of the state's 25 electors to Bush and his running mate, Richard B. Cheney. In each case, Gore, standing behind the speaker's desk, ruled the objection could not be heard because of an 1877 law that requires any protest of electoral votes to be accompanied by the signature of a senator. No senator had agreed to join in the 20 objections raised by the House Democrats.
Not one senator.
Not a single Democratic senator could find his spine that day in order to bring some justice and a sense of integrity to the Democratic process in the 'greatest democracy on Earth'.
Pray that doesn't happen this time.
2004 brings similar frustrations for democracy in America -- with the spread of blackbox voting and the subsequent, public pledging of Ohio's votes to Bush by the CEO of the premier blackbox manufacturer (Diebold -- conveniently headquartered in Ohio;).
Fortunately there are some vertebrates still a part of the Democratic party working in our best interest.
A handful of House Democrats plan a long-shot effort to snarl President Bush's formal re-election by preventing Congress from counting Ohio's pivotal votes when lawmakers tally the electoral vote on Thursday.
No one expects the action to undo Bush's victory. Instead, it seems likely to do little more than call attention to Election Day voting irregularities...
In a measure of the dispute's political delicacy, proponents are considered unlikely to find a senator who will co-sign the objection, which is required to force Congress to act on the challenge. Most Democrats are reluctant to launch a serious effort to undo the election, in which Bush outpolled Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., by more than 3 million votes nationally.
Even so, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has sent letters to senators seeking their support for his plan to object to the counting of Ohio's 20 electoral votes, which gave Bush his November victory over Kerry. Some Ohio voters have complained of Election Day fraud, citing a shortage of voting machines at precincts with minority voters, unusually long lines and computer problems.
"I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters," wrote Conyers, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
The House Democrats' chief hope of finding a supportive senator may be Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Her spokesman, David Sandretti, said Tuesday that she has been asked to sign the complaint "and she is considering it."
Clearly, the bottom line here seems to be Barbara Boxer. Does she have what it takes to be a true leader willing to stand for what she believes in. Or will she too cow to the 'delicacies' of her perceived political future?
Contesting the Vote Would Make a Point
Should a senator join the protesting House members and formally challenge Ohio's results, the two chambers would then meet separately and consider the objection. But consider the following:
1) Both bodies are controlled by Republicans.
and
2) Since Bush won the 2004 election by 34 electoral votes (286 to 252), Ohio's 20 electoral votes, if withheld from the electoral count, would not effect the outcome of the race. Bush would retain the White House 266 EVs to 252.
The maximum benefit that could be realistically expected from these actions is:
1) A heightened awareness and sense of legitimacy among a broad swath of the public and the media.
2) Greater scrutiny of our electoral process would result -- paper trails, equitable allocation of voting machines and resources, a national standard for election processes, etc.
Ironically, most Democrats cited their reluctance to join the effort primarily because Bush outpolled Kerry by more than 3 million votes nationally.
This ignores the principle of the protest -- to ensure legitimacy and accuracy for our Democracy. But why should we expect our leadership to stand by principle when Bush's laughable 'mandate' clearly sets their agenda?
Even so, it was Kerry who outpolled Bush according to virtually all of the exit polls, a phenomenon largely ignored or poo-pooed by the mainstream media. That only matters in '3rd world' nations like the Ukraine where the leadership is much less adept at clouding the facts and controlling the media.
Contact Barbara Boxer and contact your state's senators to urge them to take this action in support of Democracy.
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