Green Party Report on Ohio Recount Demand Re-Filed byGreens/Libertarians

 

December 7th

 

Dear Recount Supporters,

 

Today, we took another step forward in the struggle for genuine democracy.

 

RECOUNT DEMANDED

We re-filed our Ohio recount demand today and re-sent our checks to those County Boards of Elections who had returned our original checks. We held a press conference in Columbus today (December 7^th) with David Cobb to make that public announcement.

 

LITIGATING

We went to federal court on November 22^nd and again on December 3^rd to attempt to expedite the recount process. The December 3^rd suit alleged that Blackwell was abusing his discretionary authority and was, in effect, stalling. The suit asked that the recount begin immediately and be completed by the federally declared "safe harbor" date of December 7 or by December 13, when the presidential electors are scheduled to meet.

 

Delaware County election officials sought to stop a recount in their county but were denied by the federal court on Friday, December 3rd. A local state court judge had granted a temporary restraining order, which expired on December 1^st.

 

COORDINATING

We have eight regional coordinators in place throughout Ohio; they are identifying and training eighty-eight county coordinators who are in turn identifying, training and placing ten to fifty observers in each county (depending on the number of votes cast and type of machinery used).

 

Over 3,200 volunteers signed up to help – almost 800 from out-of-state. Our first priority is to place Ohio residents as recount observers. But we are inspired and impressed and humbled by the hundreds of supporters willing to take time off from work and family to drive/fly/bus hundreds if not thousands of miles to Ohio. Thank you all.

 

VOLUNTEERING

The law does not allow more than one observer per candidate per counting team or tabulating unit per county.  But there is much you can do to support this effort, either in Ohio or in your home state.  Our new “Be the Media” page at http://www.votecobb.org/participate/media/ is an excellent resource on how to write effective letters to the editor and opinion editorials.

 

This week we noticed an Associated Press article on the recount that mentioned the Greens and quoted Cobb Spokesperson, Blair Bobier, but when the same AP article was published in various newspapers, mention of Greens was reduced or removed altogether, even in cases where the article was lengthened in other ways.

 

DONATING

Thanks to your generous support, we have raised close to $280,000 for the Ohio Recount Effort but we still need to raise another $60,000 in the next few days.  Please, encourage your friends and family to contribute at http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=donate

 

Please visit http://www.votecobb.org/recount/financial/ for a financial report and explanation of where the money is being spent.

 

COMMUNICATING

We encourage you to join our Recount-News email list at http://web.greens.org/c/cobb/supporters.cgi?function=subscribe in order to receive updates from me about what is happening in Ohio and New Mexico (I will send less than one a day).

 

Otherwise, please visit our website regularly at http://www.votecobb.org/ since we post daily updates, news articles, releases and more.

 

 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Tomorrow, David Cobb will fly to Washington to participate in the formal ‘hearings’ on voting irregularities being convened by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and others on Capitol Hill.

 

We are standing up for the right to vote and for each vote to be counted. We are concerned about the integrity of the voting system. A recount will help identify problems, if any, so they can be resolved and voters will never have to wait in line for hours at end only to spend months wondering if their votes were even counted.

 

We call for non-partisan election administration, voter verifiable paper trails, and an entire overhaul of our voting system:

 

-Election Day Registration would end the problems associated with Provisional Ballots

 

-Ending Felony Disenfranchisement would remove the possibility of voters being denied their right to vote or being falsely ‘purged’ from the voter rolls

 

-Instant Runoff Voting where voters rank the candidates in their order of preference by placing a “1” next to their first choice, a “2” next to their second choice and so on would guarantee majority winners and eliminate concerns about “spoiling”

 

- Proportional Representation which would make sure that votes aren’t just counted but that they count towards the result: electing more diverse representatives in numbers consistent with support (20% of the vote gets 20% representation instead of winner-take-all)

 

-Publicly Financed Elections would take money out of politics and give the power back to the grassroots

 

-Ending restrictive and ridiculous ballot access laws designed to deny voters third-party choices at the polls

 

 

We know many of you are concerned about the timing of the recount and the December 13th meeting of the Electoral College. There are many activities being planned by a variety of organizations.  At this time, David Cobb is planning on being in Columbus and speaking to supporters that afternoon.

Please visit our website at http://www.votecobb.org for more details.

 

 

Thank you for participating in this historic effort. As Greens committed to grassroots democracy as one of our Key Values, we are proud to stand up for the rights of voters -- in Ohio and everywhere.

 

Sincerely,

Lynne Serpe

Campaign Manager/Recount Manager

Cobb/LaMarche ‘04

www.votecobb.org

 

PS - We've committed to not sending unsolicited email to folks
who have not joined our opt-in lists.  We have made an exception with this note, because of technical difficulties we experienced with our lists when we first announced their existence while acknowledging your support in an email a week or so ago.  We do not want to leave you out of the loop as we move forward.

Thank you for your patience and your support.