Letters from the Front: It ain't over till it's over......or is it?

[poltr1]

I had a invite from Election Protection to send a note to my congressional and senatoral reps asking for a full investigation of the election irregularities documented by Election Protection volunteers and others. That I have done.

From a mailing I received from the Badnarik Campaign via the Ohio Libertarian list:

"Multiple citizen activist groups have joined together to protest the management of this year's election. Just yesterday, Michael Badnarik and David Cobb issued a challenge to the Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. This challenge was headline news on Ohio public radio and the Columbus Dispatch. (Link to the relevant article in today's Dispatch.) (Requires registration!)

"No one thinks this will change the outcome of the election, but we are, instead, focusing on the inherent unfairness of our current election laws in Ohio. We have received scattered reports of intimidation, fraud, and official counting errors. In one precinct, Michael Badnarik's name was actually blacked out by election workers. Many voters stood in lines for hours.

[Jim here: There were reports of a precinct in Gahanna -- a suburb of Columbus -- which reported more votes for Bush than there were registered voters.]

"We are demanding change. We want votes to be counted promptly and fairly in a transparent and easily accountable system. We want to end the restriction of only allowing Democrats and Republicans to work the polls (independents can not be poll workers in Ohio). We demand that the Libertarian Party be recognized for what it truly is, a political party. We demand equal and fair ballot access requirements for all political parties and independents.

A followup message from the executive director of the Ohio Libertarians said, "The Libertarian Party of Ohio is not and will not demand a re-count, we did not write or endorse the press release sent out by Michael Badnarik. Even if there is a re-count, It will NOT affect the result of this election. Kerry has already conceded."

Meanwhile, back at the Democratic Party, lawyers with John Kerry's presidential campaign are in Ohio on what they describe as a "fact-finding mission" following the Democrat's election loss to President Bush last week. (Link to ONN article.) (Does not require registration.)

I have not heard anything about the count for absentee ballots, provisional ballots, or a re-count. Once I do, I'll post it here.