Dear Senator or Congressperson,
I am writing,
as one of your constituents, to express my appreciation of United States
Senator Barbara Boxer of California and United States
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio for their courageous
formal "challenge" to
the certification by Congress of the Ohio vote. Furthermore, I am asking that you join with your colleagues in
the House or the Senate in taking affirmative steps to support the
proposed legislation that is being prepared, in the Senate, by
Senator Christopher
Dodd of Connecticut to up-date and to amend the 2002 Helping America
Vote Act (HAVA). Dodd’s bill would further assure each American
of his or her ability to vote and to have his or her vote honestly
and accurately counted in all future American elections. I would further ask that you support the proposed constitutional amendment
being proposed by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois to pass
in Congress, and to send on to the state legislatures, a Federal Constitutional
Amendment to protect the right of every American citizen 18 or older
to vote in all federal elections. Finally, I
regret that, according to observers of the recently conducted Ohio
recount, very few of the precincts chosen to be hand-counted as
part of the recount were chosen randomly — even though it is mandated
by Ohio state law that they be randomly selected. The New York Times
reported on December 20, 2004, in reference to the Ohio recount, that: “It
is becoming clear that, as important as recounts are, they are not enough
to ensure the integrity of our elections.” I will not trust the
results produced by Ohio’s electronic optical scanning machines
unless and until there has been a fair recount of ballots. We should
complete one now. Clearly, a complete hand recount would be the most
effective way of addressing voters’ concerns of tampering or
fraud. Additionally, I will not trust the electronic E-Touch Voting Machines
unless and until these machines produce a verifiable paper record, made
available to each voter upon the completion of his or her vote. I am writing to ask you, as my Senator or Congressional Representative,
to take all steps within your constitutional power to see to it that
the above mentioned measures are carried out, or enacted, before the
Year 2006 National Election - and that you actively support the continued
investigation, by the General Accounting Office of the United States
Congress, which could provide a proper assessment of our 2004 Presidential
Election. Thank you for you continued consideration of these issues. Sincerely yours,
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Dear Editor:
I am writing to register my
thanks and gratitude to United States Senator Barbara Boxer of California
and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of
Ohio for having lodged a formal "challenge" to the certification,
by Congress, of the delegation of Presidential Electors from Ohio.
There has not been, as of yet, a reliable recount of the actual paper
ballots cast in Ohio. I have followed closely the so-called "re-count" process
in Ohio, and I actively distrust the process used by Ohio Election Supervisor
Kenneth Blackwell (The Co-Chairman of the Ohio Committee to Elect George
W. Bush) to "re-count" the paper ballots cast in Ohio.
Also, there has not been a thorough investigation, by Congress, into
the literally thousands of official complaints of vote suppression by
Ohio Republican election officials. Kenneth Blackwell and his Republican
colleagues in Ohio appear to have "suppressed" the minority,
urban (Democratic) vote.
This suppression reportedly included:
1. The exclusion of "Provisional" ballots cast by registered
Democratic voters within the correct county and even within the CORRECT
BUILDING but at the incorrect "precinct" table (to which they
had been incorrectly directed by Election Officials.)
2. The allocation of dramatically fewer voting booths to heavily-populated
urban and minority (presumably Democratic) voting precincts than in more
sparsely-populated, rural voting precincts (presumably Republican.)
Finally, national leaders,
such as Jesse Jackson, have raised concerns regarding the possibility
of electronic vote fraud; these allegations
have not been properly looked into. As noted by many analysts and academics,
there exists a shocking disparity between exit poll results from Ohio
and the "electronic" tallies generated by the electronic "scanning
machines" which were used to "tabulate" those votes. Such "exit
polls" have, over the past 50 years, proven accurate to within .5
of 1% - and all of the "exit polls" conducted in the State
of Ohio, on November 2nd of 2004, showed that John Kerry was winning
the Ohio votes
by OVER 4.5%. Such "extraordinary" discrepancies certainly
require a good faith "investigation" by Congress before it
blindly "certifies" the members of the Electoral College.
I believe that Senator Barbara
Boxer and Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones displayed great
personal political courage in "standing
up" for our right to have fair and trusted elections in America.
And, given that a recent Gallup Poll showed that 19% of Americans think
that fraud played a decisive role in the 2004 Presidential Election outcome,
it appears that many Americans feel the same way. After all, if we are
going to "sponsor" new democracies - in Iraq, in Afghanistan,
in The Ukraine, in Palestine - we must take steps to assure every reasonable
American that his or her vote was honestly and accurately counted.
I am asking other readers of this publication to join with me in calling
for:
A.) Support of United States Senator Barbara Boxer's and Senator Christopher
Dodd's proposed legislation calling for the strengthening of the 2002
Help America Vote Act (HAVA);
B.) Support for passage of Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s
proposed Constitutional Amendment establishing a Federal Constitutional
Right To Vote - and the enactment of federal legislation (under the authority
of that new Amendment) to protect our Right To Vote through federal criminal
laws; and
C.) A full, fair investigation
by the Government Accounting Office of Congress of all potential voting "irregularities",
including criminal fraud, in the Year 2004
Presidential Election.
Our Founders gave us a Constitutional
Republic – but we must preserve
it.
Thank you for you consideration of this letter.
Signed:
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