What Went Wrong in Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election – Academy Chicago Publishers
What Went Wrong in Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election – Academy Chicago Publishers (2005) 142pp. (S) ****
The Conyers Report is an eye-opening look into the abundant amount of fraud committed in Ohio, before, during, and after the 2004 presidential election. Whether it be the shorting of the number of election machines in urban, typically Democratic precincts, the deliberate dissemination of disinformation as to the date of the election and/or regarding a person’s eligibility to vote, or the tampering with the election machines themselves, post election by service technicians of the manufacturer, for the purpose of ensuring that recount results would match, this report is shocking in demonstrating the breadth of criminality involved. Much of the focus centers on Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, this comment being typical throughout the text: “Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters [of election fraud] posed to him by ranking member Conyers and eleven other members of the judiciary on December 2, 2004.”(p.47)
With focus squarely on Blackwell, the reader sees his transparent attempts to stifle new voters from entering the democratic process, by coming up with a seemingly arbitrary condition that new applications for voter registration, be written on a particular type of heavier paper, hence disqualifying the applications that had already been done previously on lighter paper. We also see how Blackwell held out certifying the initial election results to the last possible moment so that a recount would not be able to be conducted in time to have a bearing on the electoral college tally. Someone was even audacious enough to call in a terrorist threat into one of the precincts, thus restricting access to votes and voting equipment. But again and again we find Kenneth Blackwell at the center of the storm. Conyers recognizes that as a member of the minority, he is powerless since only the majority has subpoena power. Given the long list of abuses articulated in this report, it would be a true travesty of justice if Kenneth Blackwell doesn’t get his day in court. As a member of the Cheney-Bush election apparatus, the conflicts of interest for Blackwell could not be more blatant. Like Katherine Harris before him in Florida 2000, together their responsibility for doing the country a tremendous disservice amounts to a contribution to a stench of corruption that only grows as time goes on. Thanks to Conyers and his report, there is a record of their misdeeds and malfeasance, so that while the majority of Americans may still be oblivious to the shenanigans of the 2004 election, there is indeed a document that hopefully some day many in this country will look upon with gratitude as one of the saving graces of the republic.
The Conyers Report is an eye-opening look into the abundant amount of fraud committed in Ohio, before, during, and after the 2004 presidential election. Whether it be the shorting of the number of election machines in urban, typically Democratic precincts, the deliberate dissemination of disinformation as to the date of the election and/or regarding a person’s eligibility to vote, or the tampering with the election machines themselves, post election by service technicians of the manufacturer, for the purpose of ensuring that recount results would match, this report is shocking in demonstrating the breadth of criminality involved. Much of the focus centers on Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, this comment being typical throughout the text: “Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters [of election fraud] posed to him by ranking member Conyers and eleven other members of the judiciary on December 2, 2004.”(p.47)
With focus squarely on Blackwell, the reader sees his transparent attempts to stifle new voters from entering the democratic process, by coming up with a seemingly arbitrary condition that new applications for voter registration, be written on a particular type of heavier paper, hence disqualifying the applications that had already been done previously on lighter paper. We also see how Blackwell held out certifying the initial election results to the last possible moment so that a recount would not be able to be conducted in time to have a bearing on the electoral college tally. Someone was even audacious enough to call in a terrorist threat into one of the precincts, thus restricting access to votes and voting equipment. But again and again we find Kenneth Blackwell at the center of the storm. Conyers recognizes that as a member of the minority, he is powerless since only the majority has subpoena power. Given the long list of abuses articulated in this report, it would be a true travesty of justice if Kenneth Blackwell doesn’t get his day in court. As a member of the Cheney-Bush election apparatus, the conflicts of interest for Blackwell could not be more blatant. Like Katherine Harris before him in Florida 2000, together their responsibility for doing the country a tremendous disservice amounts to a contribution to a stench of corruption that only grows as time goes on. Thanks to Conyers and his report, there is a record of their misdeeds and malfeasance, so that while the majority of Americans may still be oblivious to the shenanigans of the 2004 election, there is indeed a document that hopefully some day many in this country will look upon with gratitude as one of the saving graces of the republic.
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