U.S. National

"The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in Russia, Afganistan, and Iraq, but not in Ohio," notes LPO Executive Director Robert Butler. "We had a veteran and a hero from the current war in Iraq who wanted to run as a Libertarian last year, but I had to explain to him why that wasn't possible."

The Libertarian Party of Ohio is asking the Ohio House of Representatives to modernize the state's ballot access laws.

Robert Butler, 31, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Ohio will testify on Wednesday March 2nd before the Ohio House Election and Ethics Committee.

"Our state's current ballot access laws were created during the Red Scare of the early 20th century," adds State Chair Jason Hallmark, "They do not reflect the ideals of open democracy, the foundation of our great country."

"We are only asking that Ohio modernize its laws, just as all of our neighboring states have recently done," explains Butler, "Ohio has been ranked 49th by OSU Political Science Professor Paul Allen Beck for its restrictive regulation of political parties. We want that to change."

As continuing investigations into the 2004 presidential election reveal yet more flaws in the nation’s election machinery, the call for meaningful election reform is growing across the country and in Washington, where members of Congress who opposed Ohio’s 2004 Electoral College vote have proposed sweeping reforms. It remains to be seen if a growing coalition of civil rights activists, election reformers and others can create a clamor for change that cannot be ignored – even by the Republican-dominated Congress.

In America, every vote should be counted correctly.  Following the General Election on November 2, 2004, we have learned that there were numerous incidents of evoting machines malfunctioning and/or being tampered with and significant voter suppression.  Congress is being asked to investigate.  In the name of preserving democracy itself, the purpose of this article is to outline two courses of action which will help prevent future voting fraud in all 50 states:

The Broadway in Columbus Series's "Thoroughly Modern Millie" opened Tuesday night at the Palace Theater with a tight, light and thoroughly enjoyable musical cream puff to adorn the Palace stage.

This is, of course, no major work of angst or passion.  Miss Saigon has come and gone. 

But as advertised, Millie is a perfectly lovely milk chocolate trifle, served light and frothy.  The performances are clean, competent and engaging.  The staging is unpretentious and credible.  The lines are delivered right, the music sung nicely, the pacing reasonable and the plot line so thoroughly predictable as to be downright relaxing. 

Lead Darcie Roberts (Millie) and her cohorts Stephanie Pope (Muzzie), Robyn Payne (Miss Flannery) and Pamela Hamill (Mrs. Meers) balance each other nicely, while the men---mainly Bryan McElroy (Jimmy) and John Ganun (Trevor Graydon), along with Emir Yonzon (Bun Foo) and Richard Feng Zhu (Chin Ho)---more than deliver on their end of the bargain. 

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, easy on the eyes, ears and psyche. 

The following documents are supporting documents in the Blackwell presidential election sanctions case in Ohio. For more information about the sanctions, read the following articles.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1138, http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1102, and see other articles in the Election 2004 department.

Briefs

MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR. AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R. 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

MEMORANDUM OF UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR. AS AMICUS CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION OF SECRETARY OF STATE BLACKWELL AND OHIO’S TWENTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO CIV. R 11 AND S. CT. PRAC. R. XIV, §5

Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, will be filing an amicus brief in the Ohio Supreme Court with the support of Senator Russ Feingold and 17 other members of the House of Representatives recommending that the Court not sanction the attorneys who brought Ohio election contest in Moss v. Bush (no.04- 2088). Mr. Conyers offered the following statement:

"The attorneys in this case had reason to believe that the election results did not reflect the will of the electorate. In good faith, they brought a case based not only on statistical probability but the depositions and affidavits of computer experts, statisticians, and election volunteers. In only a couple months, these attorneys have amassed over 900 pages of evidence.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones spoke before the House Administration Committee during their hearing on the Implementation of the Help America Vote Act following the 2004 election.

"I am thoroughly disappointed that the Secretary of State from my home state of Ohio, Ken Blackwell, chose not to testify today before the House Administration Committee," stated Rep. Tubbs Jones. "Just as he created tremendous confusion among voters in Cuyahoga County and across the state of Ohio during this past election by issuing bizarre directives and playing partisan politics, his failure to testify before this committee today shows that he is not committed to improving our election system.

President Bush won November's election by 2.5% yet exit polls showed Kerry leading by 3%. Which was correct?

"There are statistical indications that a systematic, nationwide shift of 5.5% of the vote may have occurred, and that we'll never get to the bottom of this, unless we gather the data we need for mathematical analysis and open, robust scientific debate.", says Bruce O'Dell, USCountVotes' Vice President.

The study, “Response to Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004 Report”, was co-authored by a diverse group of professors and academicians specializing in statistics and mathematics affiliated with University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Utah, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin, Southern Methodist University, Case Western Reserve University and Temple University. Their study does not support claims made by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International that exit poll errors were to blame for the unprecedented 5.5% discrepancy between exit polls and official 2004 election results.

On November 3, just hours after Democratic vice-presidential hopeful John Edwards made a national announcement that he and John Kerry were not going to concede until all the votes were counted, Kerry grabbed the spotlight and conceded -- before all the votes were counted.

Kerry took the money and ran. Seems he couldn't stick around because he and the missus were spending Christmas at a holiday extravaganza in Sun Valley as personal guests of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who just weeks before had fired up the Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden by declaring that "America is safer with George W. Bush as president."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "The former candidate, largely AWOL post-election, was seen in intense conversation with Dennis Miller."

It would be another two months before Kerry got around to emailing his millions of stunned, exhausted, and much poorer supporters to let them know that, although he was committed to "ensuring that every vote in this election is counted," alas, he wouldn't be joining the protest of the Ohio Electors.

This is the news report you did NOT see last night on CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or hear on NPR or read in the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Columbus Dispatch, The Raleigh News and Observer or the Asheville Citizen-Times.

On Wednesday, January 5th I made a last minute decision to ride with three friends, Michael, Patty, and Sonnie, from the Asheville NC area to Washington DC to participate in a protest march the following day at the Capitol to coincide with the certification of the Electoral College vote by a joint session of Congress.  I can't logically explain what compelled me in this direction except that there is a powerful inner force, similar in nature, I'm sure, to what made thousands drive to Devils Tower, Wyoming in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."  I had to go.