In Ohio, Jackson demands probe into voting woes

By JAMES DREW
Toledo BLADE   29 November 2004

COLUMBUS - The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for Congress to investigate alleged irregularities in the presidential election in Ohio, from a shortage of voting machines in predominantly black and Democratic precincts to voters who weren't told how to cast a regular ballot.

"We must use litigation, legislation, and demonstration. We must not stop until every vote counts. This is not about whether the Democrats or [John] Kerry will stand up. It's about you. It's about your dignity," Mr. Jackson told about 350 who gathered yesterday afternoon at Mount Hermon Baptist Church.

Bob Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said Mr. Jackson and others who are alleging election-day fraud "should accept what John Kerry has already acknowledged; this election is over, it's time to move on."

A day after the election, Mr. Kerry conceded after concluding that the counting of provisional ballots in Ohio wouldn't prevent President Bush from winning the state's 20 electoral votes.

The unofficial results in Ohio showed Mr. Bush with 51.01 percent to 48.52 for Mr. Kerry - a margin of 136,337 votes.

Mr. Jackson, the veteran civil rights activist who sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1984 and 1988, said he supports a recount in Ohio that the presidential candidates of the Green and Libertarian parties have sought.

His call for an investigation came a week after the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, said it is examining issues across the nation including voter registration, provisional ballots, and new voting machines.

Mr. Jackson said Ohio's chief elections officer, Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, should recuse himself from a recount. Mr. Blackwell was associate chairman of Mr. Bush's campaign in Ohio.

The Ohio GOP called Mr. Jackson's two-day trip to Ohio, which ends today in Cincinnati, an effort to "hype voting conspiracies."

"Jesse Jackson is a professional publicity hound," Mr. Bennett said in a written statement. "He has a stellar reputation for ignoring the facts and distorting the truth.

"Mr. Jackson is only discrediting himself by citing irregularities that have already been resolved and floating baseless claims that even members of his own party reject."

Mr. Jackson said the United States, four decades after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, should amend the constitution to provide citizens a "federally protected right to vote."

The U.S. has "50 separate and unequal elections" for president, with counties in control and the "rich get first-class machinery; the rural counties get chads and punch cards," Mr. Jackson said.

Cliff Arnebeck, an attorney and activist who represents the Alliance for Democracy, said he plans this week to challenge the outcome of the presidential race in Ohio.

The lawsuit will be filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, likely on Wednesday, Mr. Arnebeck said.

Alicia Reese, Cincinnati's vice mayor, said 1,000 Hamilton County residents didn't have their ballots counted because they went to the "wrong table" at polling locations with multiple precincts.

She said election workers failed to inform voters where they needed to go to cast a regular ballot instead of a provisional one that was only counted if cast in the correct precinct.

Mr. Jackson said an investigation also should examine discrepancies between exit polls and the unofficial results in Ohio, Pennyslvania, and Florida.