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News :: UCIMC |
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IMC Radio News 11-29-2004 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Sandra Ahten / Sarah Lazare
Email: radio (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified!) |
03 Dec 2004
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Follow the link below to where you can download this week's edition of the IMC Radio News
http://www.ucimc.org/media/all/display/3513 |
The Ohio Recount will make a difference by ensuring a debate about the very fabric of our democratic process. Two third-party presidential candidates, Green Party Presidential Candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Michael Badnarik. Have filed a federal lawsuit that is forcing a recount of Ohio ballots.
According to the Los Angles Times the third-party candidates have said they are not interested in overturning President Bush's victory in the state -- But they say they are concerned about reports of voting irregularities and believe a recount is necessary to ensure accuracy. But the Los Angles Times and other major media outlets have understated the mission of the recount which according to Holly Hart the volunteer coordinator for the campaign is much broader, in that it will expose the faulty and insecure electoral systems in the United States. This recount campaign is designed to let the public know just how problematic our voting system is and, according to Blair Bobier, media director of the recount campaign… to bring that problem into the light.
The purpose of the recount in Ohio is to ensure the integrity of the vote counting process to protect the right to vote and to ensure that all the votes are actually counted. We’ve had widespread reports of irregularity, discrimination against African American voters, voter suppression, voter intimidation; and a recount is one way to look at some of these problems and to shine a light on the broader problems that exist in the US election system as evidenced by the problems in Ohio.]
Here is Jennifer Walling, member of the Prairie Green Party of Illinois, Nat’l Student Campaign coordinator for the Cobb Campaign.
[audio: “But far more important that that is actually getting peoples votes counted, you know neither of the major parties are trying to make sure that happens and that is such a vital part of democracy. Just Getting peoples votes actually counted, which is why I think this recount is so important
Many proponents of the recount belief that this challenge to the system will fuel the public discussion of the electoral problems – highlighting the fact that every voter must be assured that their vote was accurately cast according to their wishes and that every vote is accurately counted. Many believe that this must be done with a verifiable paper ballot receipt that the voter receives at time of voting to make sure that their vote was accurately cast. In addition the computer voting machines must be programmed with open source software code so that there is a transparent system that proves that the votes cast were the votes counted.
It is vital that the recount take place now in order to help ensure the integrity of the 2004 presidential election, but perhaps even more important is that a serious recognition of the voting problems and solutions be discussed now as the county prepares to meet the 2006 deadline for all counties to have updated their voting equipment by 2006 as mandated by the legislation called “help America vote” that was signed in 2002 by George W. Bush.
Here is Jeff Nicholson Owens, of Champaign County Illinois explaining the different options in voting machines
[audio from Jeff Nicholson Owens: There are basicly two kinds of machines. …one are called Direct Recording Equipment, or DRE, the other are called Optical Scans. The Direct Recording Equipment are probably more familiar to your listeners, they are the touch screen devices that not only collect the vote but also record the vote. So what ever the voter or the user keys in through the touch pad that is ostensibly the vote that gets stored on the hard drive or memory key or some kind of recording device with in the machine. The optical scanning equipment , is something that requires something to be scanned, likea piece of paper and generally this is preferable because you want what is called a voter verified paper ballot. That is CRITICAL to preserving to our democracy.
Generally the DRE’s are quite popular because they are cheaper. In fact I happen to have some prices that the DRE are about $1000 cheaper. They run about $3-4 thousand dollars. Adding on the printer where you can generate a voter verified paper ballot actually costs extra.]
I asked Blair Bobier of the Cobb Recount Campaign if he felt the issues in Ohio are different that those across the country.
It’s a little bit of both. I think some of the problems we see in Ohio we’ll see in a number of other states and then there are particular problems in Ohio that have been created their by a number of other different conditions -- and that are being addressed by an incredible number of grass roots movement of citizen groups who are also taking a lead in ensuring that the elections are taking place fairly and accurately.]
I asked Mr. Bobier if the recount was definitely going to happen.
The recount is definitely going to happen. It’s not going to happen as quickly as we would like, we filed suit in Federal District Court last week in Ohio to expedite the process, but what the judge basically said was “no we don’t the right to get the process expedited it will take place on the timeline laid out by the Republican Secreatry of State of Ohio who happens to be the chairman of the Bush campaign. We had hoped to get all these recounts completed by Dec 13, which is when the presidential electors will be selected or will be voting in Columbus Ohio. It looks unlikely that the recount will be completed by then. However, there are still a number of opportunities further down the road to challenge the electors before the selection of the President actually takes place.
Q Is anyone opposing the recount?
Interestingly enough one county in Ohio, Delaware county did file suit against our campaign, seeking to stop the recounts in their county and we will be addressing that through the legal system.
I asked Mr. Bobier if the Democrats were taking part in the recount.
The Democrats are not taking any leadership in this at all. That has been left up to the Green Party and Libertarian Party as well, We are the two parties, as represented by our candidates David Cobb and Michael Badnarik who are actually formally demanding the recount in Ohio. My understanding is that the Ohio Dem Part that they will staff the recount as a party representing a party of a candidate who was on the ballot. They have the opportunity and the option to monitor the recount and they are essentially taking advantage created by the Green Party to observe this recount. But were it not for the Green Party and the Libertarians demanding this recount, the Dems wouln’t have the opportunity to observe it.
I asked Holly Hart, Volunteer Coordinator for the Cobb campaign for the Ohio Recount about the estimated 2000 volunteers needed for the recount campaign.
Once there, they will be trained. We are working on training material. Possibly they will go to larger cities for training or we would have trainers on site, one in each county so that every day or every other day incoming people could be trained as to what they need to do to observe, which is not high powered exciting work, rather tedious, but they’ll show people what to look for and if there are anomalies or any problems that… they have questions there will be a phone number that they can call, a legal hotline, as much as possible to have legal expertise or lawyers on hand.
As far as we know in each county they will be doing the recount in one central location per county. …..
People who want to volunteer will be provided lodging. Volunteers can stay for one or several days. All information on volunteering on the recount campaign can be found at the VOTECOBB.ORG website.
For the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center in Urbana Illinois, I’m Sandra Ahten |
This work is in the public domain |
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Re: IMC Radio News 11-29-2004 |
by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 Dec 2004
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In Ohio under current law, any candidate can request a recount, as long as they can come up with the fee. |
