It’s a pay for play game at this point. If you really believe the exit polls were right and the votes were wrong, now you can help pay $150,000 for a recount in Ohio.
Washington, DC, Nov. 11 (UPI) — Strange bedfellows and former presidential rivals from the Green and Libertarian parties joined Thursday to demand a recount of presidential ballots in Ohio.
“Due to widespread reports of irregularities in the Ohio voting process, we are compelled to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote,” Green Party candidate David Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Bednarik said in a joint statement.
” … We must protect the rights of the people of Ohio, as well as all Americans, and stand up for the right to vote and the right for people’s votes to be counted,” they said. “The integrity of the democratic process is at stake.”No shit they’re demanding a recount – it’s free publicity and they know those “rumors on the Internets” people are going going to foot the bill for them.
Interestingly, in Ohio, Cobb received just 24 votes statewide out of over 5.5 million votes cast.
Who knows, after they get through recountin’ all 5.5 million ballots, we might find he got 25 votes.
Excuse me, but isn’t this the same blog that was calling for Nader to be put on the ballot of the “swing states” so that the “voters can have the full slate of candidates”?
Sorry fellows, but if you’re going to be disnengenuous over paying to put Nader on the ballot to pull votes away from Kerry (which is exactly the goal of the Republicans who were working on this, costing money…), then you shouldn’t complain when peole say they want “every vote to count and to count every vote” which also costs money.
Otherwise, all it looks like you’re interested in is winning at all costs. Is that what you want, and to Hell with real democracy?
I don’t see a complaint in Kevin’s post.
The vote count for Cobb does seem a little low. Just sayin’.
I don’t have a problem with recounting the vote. I just think it is a waste of time, energy and resources. It won’t change the outcome and it won’t change any minds about “irregularities”.
After the 2000 election independant sources (newspapers and what not) paid to recount the votes in Florida in the most liberal of methods. In fact I believe they used the Al Gore desired method of counting. Bush still came out ahead. Even though those results were published and broadcast people still believe that Bush stole the election.
If these groups want to do something useful they will quit fighting the last battle and move on to the next. How about fighting for “real” voting reform? For instance;
1.Purge all voter registration roles and require everyone to rergister.
2.distribute voter registration cards that are made of durable plastic and have a computer stip containing all pertinent information such as picture, thumbprint, address, party affiliation.
3.Limit registration to one bureau specific to registering to vote. No DMV vote registering.
4.Limit registering to vote to the first half of each year.
5.Abondon provisional ballots. There will be another presidential election in 4 years if you can’t get registered legally by then…well too bad.
6.Procedures and methodology of voting for “Federal” elections should be uniform and mandated by the Federal government.
Just a few ideas. This would be real move toward progress and secure, valid voting results. Squabling over this election which has been conceded is sour grapes and unproductive.
They can “want” a recount, doesn’t mean they automatically get it. Polipundit has a point showing why the recount won’t take place.
http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=5251
My take is that the Kerry people will get in on this and “discourage” it (pretty much what they have done so far by saying, “There was no fraud”).
Also pressure from the Bush campaign ref to force recounts in Penn, Wisconsin and NH could cool thiis camp fire quick. I know the Dems don’t want that.
“Excuse me, but isn’t this the same blog that was calling for Nader to be put on the ballot of the “swing states” so that the “voters can have the full slate of candidates”?”
No, this is the blog that pointed out the complete hypocrisy of the “they’re trying to disenfranchise people” Democrats suing to -duh- disenfranchise Nader voters. The difference is self-evident.
This IS however the blog that is home to an increasing number of nitwit commenters who have no sound arguments so they mischaracterize what has been said here.
Are we going to do recounts in EVERY state where the vote was close? Are we going to do it EVERY election? Or, rather, just every year that a Republican wins, because the liberals are sore-loser crybabies who can’t grasp that the American people did in fact NOT want their candidate?
If Kerry had won, and Republicans were demanding all these recounts, can you imagine what those hypocrites would be saying about US?!!
24 votes? Hmmmmm, the 20 electors voted for themselves, so it was only 4 votes from the rest of the state.
This is getting tiresome. Talk about sore losers. Isn’t the Libs favorite 527 MoveOn.Org? Well schmucks, move on.
Embrace the recount – All legal absentee votes will finally be counted…
This garbage has got to stop. The liberal hate America crowd so desperately wants their apologist in office that they are willing to further rip this country to pieces. There is also a movement to recount all 34 states using electronic voting equipment.
Kerry seems to be distant from this effort but you can bet that his people are in the middle of it.