Kerry to Enter Ohio Recount Fray
t r u t h o u t | Report
Thursday 23 December 2004
2004 Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry will file today, in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Ohio, papers in support of the Green Party/Libertarian Party recount effort. Specifically, Kerry will be
filing a request for expedited discovery regarding Triad Systems voting machines, as well as a motion for a preservation
order to protect any and all discovery and preserve any evidence on this matter.
Triad Systems has come under scrutiny recently after Sherole Eaton, deputy director of elections for Hocking County,
swore out an affidavit in which she described her witnessing the tampering of electronic voting equipment by a Triad
representative. Rep. John Conyers, the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, has requested an
investigation into this matter by the FBI and the Hocking County prosecutor.
Truthout will have more on this specific Triad allegation later in the day.
Previously, the Green Party and Libertarian Party have not fared well in their efforts to get emergency orders
regarding this matter in Ohio. In order to pass muster with a judge, the individual or group requesting an emergency
order for such a recount must show both irreperable harm as well as a substantial chance for success on the merits.
While Green and Libertarian representatives could theoretically be able to show irreparable harm, they could not
establish a substantial chance for success on the merits, because no recount would deliver Ohio to either party.
Kerry's entry into this recount effort changes the math on this matter dramatically. He can likewise show irreparable
harm, and unlike the Green and Libertarian candidates, he can also prove a substantial chance for success on the merits
because he lost the Ohio vote by a statistical whisker.
It should be noted that Kerry's filing of these requests does not indicate his complete entry into the recount process,
but does clearly indicate that he is moving decisively in that direction. His previous stance on the matter was based
simply on his desire to defend the right to have a recount in the first place. The evidence of election tampering in
Ohio, specifically surrounding Triad, has motivated him to actively join the fight. The Democratic Party is also quietly
putting financial resources into the Ohio recount effort.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of all this, from the activist point of view, has been the effectiveness of the
telephone calls and letters to Kerry. The activist push to get him involved had a very significant effect on his
decision to enter this effort. Likewise, calls to other Senators in order to convince them to join House members in
challenging the election have likewise had significant effect. If such an effort continues, the activists involved will
very likely see the desired result unfold.
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William Rivers Pitt is the senior editor and lead writer for truthout. He is a New York Times and international bestselling author of two
books - 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence.'