Posted on 12/12/2004 7:09:52 PM PST by Jean S
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Democrat John Kerry is asking county elections officials to allow his witnesses to visually inspect the 92,000 ballots cast in Ohio in which no vote for president was recorded, a Kerry lawyer said Sunday night.
The request is one of 11 items that Kerry is asking for as part of the recount that Ohio's 88 county boards of election will begin this week, according to a letter sent to the boards over the weekend.
"We're trying to increase the transparency of the election process," said Donald McTigue, the lawyer handling the recount for the Kerry campaign.
Two minor presidential candidates who received 0.30 percent of the votes in last month's election requested the recount, claiming that the election was full of irregularities that need to be addressed.
President Bush, a Republican, beat the Massachusetts senator by about 119,000 votes in Ohio on Election Day. Ohio's 20 electoral votes, which will be cast on Monday, put Bush over the top in the race.
Kerry's campaign supports the recount but says it won't change the election outcome. Bush's campaign has criticized the recount effort, saying it won't change anything.
McTigue said the visual inspection is allowed under state law. The goal is to look for potential votes that were not registered by the tabulating equipment.
Other requests include the use of independent experts to check the programming and calibration of the election equipment, something McTigue said has never been allowed.
McTigue also asked that counties accept the help of a group called Votewatch to determine which precincts will be chosen for that part of the vote that will be counted by hand. McTigue said using the group will ensure that the ballots are selected using a valid random sampling method.
The procedures require 3 percent of ballots to be counted by hand in each county, and then all ballots to be counted if the initial check turns up problems.
McTigue would not speculate how many of the items the counties will honor.
"Several requests are trying to push the edge of envelope," he said.
Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, said state law will guide counties on how to do the recount.
"I don't know if Mr. McTigue is in a position to dictate the terms of a recount," he said.
Go away Mr. Kerry, go away. Don't go away mad, just GO AWAY!
By the time they finish "inspecting" them, they will all be votes for sKerry.
Right to the end, Kerry shows he is NOT a leader. A leader would have told his followers....enough,...it's over.
Pity the poor Democrats. They're moribund by hysterical, blame-seeking losers.
Dims are nothing short of a genetic obscenity.
The ghost of Florida's chad has reappeared in Ohio...resurrected by a dimwit from Massachusets. Is Al Gore standing behind Kerry and making his mouth move?
"We're trying to increase the transparency of the election process," said Donald McTigue, the lawyer handling the recount for the Kerry campaign."
Well, he's right. The election process should be transparent.
I personally would like to see the Republicans make the process a little more transparent in places like Philadelphia, St. Louis, Madison, Newark, etc.
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
He's gotta spend the rest of that $15 million left in his campaign account, right?
Kerry just can't concede gracefully in spite of his concession speech which was obviously just another page from the playbook his handlers prepared.
All these lawyers must not have jobs to go back to.
The Secretary of State of Ohio office should have filed a counter suit to stop the counting claiming the parties had no standing since they had publically said that a recount in the contest period would not change the results.
They screwed up, and they will put up with this crap until January 6th. Happy Holidays Ken!
A lawyer without some scheme to take somebody to the cleaners? C'mon. That's like a leper without a sore.
Anyway President Bush official and certified lead is 118,775 votes over Kerry. It is Mathematically impossible for Kerry to overcome it no matter how many times they count the ballots. It is just "Mathematically Impossible", period.
This recount will be just “academic” and it carries absolutely no constitutional and no legal impact on the results of the election in Ohio.
It seems a little late for this now.
" Anyway President Bush official and certified lead is 118,775 votes over Kerry."
And considering that the Electors vote tomorrow....it's all over....the large lady with the viking helmet is warming up her pipes and she will sing gracefully tomorrow.
Slightly... LOL
She already sung many times since November 2nd. Any way it will be nice that she will sing again tomorrow :)
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