Once obscure, Ohio vote has some new clout
By JOHN McCARTHY, Associated Press Writer    12 December 2004

COLUMBUS ? The Ohio presidential election ? the one that counts ? has been conducted mostly in obscurity for 200 years. Not this time.

The Electoral College?s vote in the Ohio Senate chamber on Monday was expected to be accompanied by demonstrations sponsored by groups who aren?t buying President Bush?s victory over Democrat John Kerry.

Led by a coalition representing two minor-party candidates, the dissidents have demanded ? and paid $113,600 for ? a recount that will begin this week. Many believe the recount won?t change Bush?s 119,000-vote victory over Kerry, but some do.

?John Kerry conceded so early in the process that it?s maddening,? said Kat L?Estrange of We Do Not Concede, an activist group born after the election that believes Kerry was the real winner in Ohio and nationally on Nov. 2.

About 100 people gathered outside the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday to protest the Ohio vote.

L?Estrange and Susan Truitt of the Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections, a Columbus-based group, and others are demanding the electoral vote be put off until the recount is completed. Ohio?s 88 county boards of elections must begin their recounts by the end of this week.

?In Ohio, there has not been a final determination. Therefore, any meeting of the Electoral College in Ohio prior to a full recount would in fact be an illegitimate gathering,? said John Bonifaz of the National Voting Rights Institute.

Also on Monday, a group of congressional Democrats planned a meeting to hear about irregularities in the Ohio vote. Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Maxine Waters of California and Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Ted Strickland of Ohio were expected to attend, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson. A similar forum was held Wednesday in Washington.

Jackson held a press conference in Columbus on Sunday calling for an investigation into the election focusing on the voting machines and standards used to eliminate provisional ballots.

?What?s at stake is the credibility of the process and the election,? Jackson told The Associated Press on Sunday. ?We deserve an open and transparent election.?

Ohio and its 20 electoral votes put Bush over the threshold for election when Kerry conceded on the morning of Nov. 3.

The dissidents claim there were disparities in vote totals for Democrats on the same ballot, too few voting machines in Democrat-leaning precincts, organized campaigns directing voters to the wrong polling place and confusion over the counting of provisional ballots by voters whose names did not appear in the books at polling places.

Those who believe Kerry was the winner think the Democrat will get enough new votes in the recount to overturn the result.

The actual electoral vote will follow the same script it has since 1804, when Ohio picked Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic Republican, over Federalist Charles C. Pinckney.

The electors will gather in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse and cast votes for president, then vice president, on separate paper ballots. The ballots are counted by representatives of Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell?s office then handed to Blackwell, who is the presiding officer of the electoral vote.

Blackwell then signs a ?transmittal? of the vote total and sends it to the president of the U.S. Senate, who will announce the national totals on Jan. 6.

The 20 electors are a mix of GOP officials and others who are being rewarded for service to the party. They will cast their votes, then are expected to meet for a luncheon at a downtown restaurant.

?It?s a great honor to serve as a member of the Electoral College and it?s a great honor to vote for President Bush,? said Alex Arshinkoff, longtime chairman of the Summit County Republican Party who is an elector for the second straight meeting.

Karyle Mumper, chairwoman of the Marion County Republican Party, will be an elector for the first time. She, too, feels honored but believes the demonstrations outside will be a distraction.

?It?s a shame they do not believe in the honesty and the professional people working the polls,? said Mumper, the wife of state Sen. Larry Mumper. ?I just think they are sore losers and money and time (for the recount) could be spent on other things.?

The protesters won?t be near the Senate when the vote is taken. They will be conducting their demonstrations on the sidewalks surrounding the Statehouse. L?Estrange said the protesters will be there to ensure that all voters? voices are heard.

?We want a fair election. We want a fair vote and we want a fair recount ? not a recertification of what we already have,? she said.