Yesterday’s article by Russ Baker explained that a consensus is emerging (see Donkey Rising, Mystery Pollster, Terry Neal ) challenging the view that the Ohio exit poll results are evidence of fraud in the 2004 election. Baker's piece angered some readers who equate our questioning their belief that the exit polls were right—that Kerry won Ohio—with an indifference to the host of verifiable problems documented in Ohio and elsewhere. We are not indifferent. We have consistently published articles that draw attention to the routine disenfranchisement of voters that occurs in American elections. Every year. In all states. Not just in Ohio in 2004.
What should really incense citizens concerned about the election process is what’s happening on Capitol Hill to proposals for reform. And that’s a big fat nothing. Numerous proposals have been introduced by John Conyers, Jesse Jackson Jr ., Clinton and Boxer, and others. But there’s been no movement on them.
Yesterday, a source on the Hill told me that when it comes to fixing our election system, "Republicans are determined to do nothing or roll things back..."
We don’t know for certain how many of the problems in 2004 can be attributed to fraud. But what we do know is that the right to vote in America is—in an operational and a legal sense—not guaranteed. And we know that citizens, policy wonks and legislators have spent years thinking about how to reform the system to be worthy of the shining democracy we want our country to be. Now—hidden in plain sight—good bills are going nowhere because of Republican intransigence. The goal of holding clean, functional elections isn't a partisan issue. Or is it?
For more on this—dare we say—conspiracy, watch TomPaine.com in the coming weeks.
--Alexandra Walker |
Friday 10:47 AM
