Ohio: Did Bush Really Win? It Still Looks Iffy

A widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell was apparently undertaken to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. This was done by a multi-faceted plan: inadequate numbers of functioning voting machines, creating extremely long waits, driving tens of thousands- tens of thousands- of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.

Is this not tragic news? The man we most wanted to lead us for the next four years lost the election by means of the intentional activities of one man. Kerry would have won the election. Mr. Katherine, I mean Kenneth, Blackwell wrote an op-ed piece for Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times, stating: "Every eligible voter who wanted to vote had the opportunity to vote. There was no widespread fraud, and there was no disenfranchisement. A half-million more Ohioans voted than ever before with fewer errors than four years ago, a sure sign of success by any measure, " Blackwell wrote. There you have it. And how many of us are now convinced by Blackwell's self-serving pronouncements? And don't forget: Blackwell also served as co-chair of the Ohio Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, a clear conflict of interest that renders the resolution of this situation all the more difficult.

[Read two articles in "The Free Press" by clicking on the blog title.]