"In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action."

Rev. Martin Luther King
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
April 16, 1963

About this video footage

Among the problems that must be remedied were the votes that the Ohio Recount — under Ohio law — was not allowed to consider, because they were never counted. These are the "spoiled" ballots, the rejected provisional ballots, the people who were not allowed to cast a vote.

Thousands of Ohio voters, including elderly and disabled, and parents with children, were forced to wait in line for hours in the rain and the cold. As the video shows, many of these men and women, after standing in the rain for hours waiting to vote, were turned away, given provisional ballots, or had to leave and could not vote at all.

These are the people whose children stand on the front lines in Iraq. Who will speak for these people? Who will defend and protect them on our own shores? It is time to end this shameful chapter in American history once and for all.

On January 6, the 2004 Ohio Electoral College votes were challenged by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, and 30 other Members of Congress. Our nation has not seen such a challenge to the Electoral votes in over 100 years. In his floor statement explaining his decision to challenge, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) referred to voters "who waited ten hours in the pouring rain, while suburban voters in the same county had no wait," and who were "directed to the wrong voting table, and had their ballot thrown out".

This video plainly shows those events. It was entered into the Congressional Record on January 6th, along with "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio," a 102-page report by the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff (PDF format, 3.6 Mb)

While some Republican legislators said on January 6th that the debates were frivolous and unnecessary, the grassroots-led electoral reform movement is growing, not subsiding. Although more work remains, we have set the stage for the next phase of the battle for electoral justice. We urge you to see this unforgettable video, and to encourage others to see it, as well.

"We have to ask, why has this process been delayed for so long when the election has been over for 6 weeks? How is it that the state of Washington has already completed a statewide recount — and begun a second one — before Ohio even begins?"

"The answer is known."

"It's been alluded to and stated specifically, and I will state it again: because of the partisan manipulation of Republican Secretary of State Blackwell in this state. Representative Conyers, it is not merely that Kenneth Blackwell is Republican. It is that he served as the Chair of the Bush-Cheney re-election effort."

"If we were to go to a sporting event and see one of the teams provided all the referees and umpires, we'd get suspicious. Well, we're suspicious now! Congressman Conyers, we've asked the federal judiciary to intervene."

David Cobb: "Representative Conyers, I have the most recent breaking information. It will be very brief, but this is, I think, very important. It's probably the most troubling incident that has been related to my campaign. It was related only on Sunday December 12th, regarding the very shocking event that occurred last Friday, December 10th."

"The representative from Triad Systems came into this county's board of elections office un-announced (that is, on this Friday). He said he was just stopping by to see if they had any questions about the up-coming recount. He then headed into the back room where the Triad-supplied Tabulator (that is, the machine that COUNTS the ballots) is kept."

"This Triad representative told them there was a problem with the system, that the system had a bad battery and had — quote — 'lost all its data' — end quote."

"He then took the computer apart and started swapping parts in and out of it and another 'spare' tower PC also in the room. [He may have had spare parts in his coat as one of the BOE people moved it and remarked as to how very heavy it was. He finally re-assembled everything and said it was working but to not turn it off.]"

"He then asked which precinct would be counted for the 3% recount test, and the one which had been selected as it had the right number of votes, was relayed to him. He then went back and did something else to the Tabulator."

"The Triad Systems representative suggested that since the hand count had to match the machine count exactly, and since it would be hard to memorize the several numbers which would be needed to get the count to come out exactly right, that they should post this series of numbers on the wall where they would not be noticed by observers. He suggested making them look like employee information or something similar."

"The people doing the hand count could then, he said, just report those numbers no matter what they actually counted in the ballots. This would then — quote — 'match' — the Tabulator report for this precinct exactly. [The numbers were apparently the final certified counts for the selected precinct.]"

Rep. Conyers: "David Cobb, I need you to arrange a meeting with our staff immediately, as soon as possible, so we can go into detail on this matter."

David Cobb: "Thank you. Mr. Conyers, in the interests of brevity, I will stop. It is shocking; it is going on across the States."

Rev. Jesse Jackson: The voting machine are too susceptible to glitches. And he admits — Who got "glitched"? How many "glitches" are there? What were the "glitches"? Was there a pattern of "glitches"?

Who got "glitched"? Glitches ... mistakes .. hacking ... even Secretary Blackwell admits there were glitches and missteps in the election process.

He had four years to not have any "glitches."

Secretary Blackwell: "We apparently have a glitch in the system at the county level. That glitch will be evaluated by my office, and a whole host of other third-party evaluators and assessors. It is the generosity of Ohio law that allows them to request this recount, and we are in fact, are going to abide by Ohio law and give them that recount."

"Now, no matter how much they protest, no matter how many lawsuits they file — I have the fullest of confidence in the integrity of our system."

[In the Senate Chamber of the Ohio Statehouse, Blackwell instructs the presidential electors to vote for George W. Bush].

Secretary Blackwell: "Each elector places an "x" in the box by George W. Bush. The ballot must be marked and signed in ink."

Pat Wolfe, Elections Director [formally announcing the results]: "Mr. Chairman, we have determined there have been 20 votes cast, for President George W. Bush, and 20 votes cast for Vice President Dick Cheney." [She displays the official signatures]: "This is the twenty electors, and then, countersigned by the Ohio Secretary of State."