[FONT=Arial][SIZE=7]Public hearing on Ohio voter suppression 11/15
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1](notes from the hearing)
Ohio Voter Suppression Hearing
Franklin County Court House
373 S. High St.
Columbus
meeting room A
11/15/04 6:00pm-10:00pm
notes by Joe Knapp jmk@copperas.com
Coordinators:
Bob Fitrakis -- Columbus Free Press; Election Protection Coalition
Vicki Beasley -- legal director, People For The American Way, EPC
Jonathan Goldman -- Lawyers Commission, PFTAW
Lee Leighburger -- Common Cause Ohio
Greg Moore -- former director of NAACP National Voter fund
Susan Tourette
Leslie Hough
Bill Moss
Panel largely from non-partisan political action groups that avoided
discussions of Bush vs. Kerry.
New county commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy was in attendance.
Fitrakis: asked that all testimony should be personal experiences
and not hearsay.
Beasley: noted this was second hearing on the subject, the first
held two days before at New Faith Baptist Church in Columbus. Many
of the people giving testimony tonight were overflow from the prior
well-attended meeting. She said thousands of people were
disenfranchised in this election by being denied ballots and also by
machine shortages and problems. Goal of her org is to count all the
votes, not a recount.
Goldman: called for a continuing movement for lasting voter
protection.
Moore: said 83,000 new voters were registered in Ohio but were
unable to vote due to disenfranchisement, machine errors, etc. The
polling place at Harvey Rice school in Cleveland was the worst.
All testifiers were sworn in en masse at the beginning. A court
stenographer recorded all testimony.
Testimony:
Jason Perry
was monitor at Columbus pct 12A
lack of poll workers
no greeter, no one working the end of the long lines telling
people which line they needed to be in
3 voting machines compared to 4 last year
Board of Elections did not account for the increased registrations
in this pct
- number of machines effectively limited the vote at this pct to 600
voters
only 50% of the reg voters in this pct could vote
Beasley noted that there is no Ohio law concerning machine
allocation
Jay Wamsley
Athens attorney
was election observer in Franklin County on Nov. 2
assigned to monitor 7D, 7A, 7E, 12B, 7C, 7B
extremely long lines all day
2.5 hour wait was norm in all these pcts
each pct had 3 voting booths
he did a sample of some Arlington and Worthington (GOP-dominated)
pcts; they all had 4 and sometimes 5 machines
- 12B had been moved and not everyone got the info; many had to cast
provisional ballots and this was tying up one machine
- many people left the line without voting
Karen Hanson
worked for MoveOn PAC
set up voter information stand at Douglas Elementary (55D?)
observed 5-10% of the people leaving the line 7:00-10am
3 voting machines; in the past 5 or 6
spoke to about 30 voters who felt they were harassed by
enforcement of the 5-minute voting time limit
- poorly trained poll workers; were unable to direct people to their
proper polling location if needed
Robin Smith
resident of Upper Arlington 6A
chairman, Ward 6, UA for Kerry
there were 4 polling places in ward 6, 7 pcts
provided umbrellas and water for people standing in line
no lines existed at any of these polling places where Bush vote
was 62%
calculates there was 1 machine for every 164 voters
called for an analysis precinct-by-precinct of machine allocations,
correlated with Bush/Kerry support; thinks people need
to go to jail over this
Sherry Suarez
voter in Reynoldsburg D
had big problems trying to vote
she had briefly moved out of the county in 2002 and had gotten a
driver's license at the new address. But in March 2004 she moved
back to her old Reynoldsburg address (she has 3 properties) where
she has been registered for years. At the polling location she was
on a pre-determined list of people to challenge and was told she
couldn't vote because her DL didn't match the voting book.
- was told she needed a utility bill with current address and she
didn't have one
- had a tax bill faxed from the county auditor's office to the
school, but for some reason they wouldn't take it as proof of
address
- had to vote a provisional ballot
Christie Tobin
- was a patient at Mt. Carmel - St. Ann's in Westerville on
Nov. 2
- a representative from the Board of Elections was going through the
hospital ward taking votes
- she told the rep she was at the Kerry/Springstein rally at OSU and
suffered heart problems later. He said that if he had been to a
Kerry rally, he would have heart problems too
- rep said that she should punch out hole 5 for Bush
Jonathan Meyers
observed at Livingston Avenue Elementary
pct judge was 1/2 hour late, and walked off the job at noon
total disorganization
line was 2.5 hours long
Voter information and support line 866-OUR-VOTE was busy all day
Arthur Lievert
observed at Marburn Academy, north side
6 voting machines, 2 not working
there were two lines for pcts C and D, but there was no one to
direct voters
- daughter voted in southern Delaware County (Republican area) and
reported no line
Steve Brack
from Riverside, Ohio, Montgomery County pct 5
passed out voter information guides to voters; was told to stop
poll workers at Harrison Township L tried to stop legal voter
information activity
Jennifer Delaney
OSU teaching associate
voted at Prairie Township firehouse in Galloway (Republican area)
about a 30 minute wait
submitted a list of her students who conversely reported problems
voting at OSU polling places
Janeane Smith-White
pushed Kerry button on her ballot and the light went on for Bush
poll worker said it had been happening all day
Steven Hayman
- voted in Pickerington; no problem with punchcard machines or
waiting there
was a volunteer in Columbus 51A on Moler Road
voters were confused by two polling locations on Moler Rd, at 1201
and 1560
lost at least 75 voters in the 12.5 hours
there were about 150 people in line at nominal poll closing of
7:30; one machine
- "Ohio has a new poll tax: if you can't afford to wait in
line for four hours, you don't vote."
Tom Pinatello
first experience voting in Columbus
polling place was Livingston School
observed that after he pushed the button for Kerry, went through
the complicated ballot, and did a double check at the end before
pressing the vote button, the vote for Kerry was gone (light
blinking again)
Jimmy Sharpe
waited in wrong line for one hour
lines were snaking out of the building
was told he needed to get an authority-to-vote slip; that's
when he found out the proper line
- pct was handing out ATV slips to everyone in line, even though
guideline say that only 5 or 6 should be out at any one time
- people were leaving line and going away with ATV slips still in
hand
- these were lost votes; worse, people could theoretically sell the
slips
Jen Miller
worked at 29B and 1A, Southside Settlement House
election protection volunteer
low-income Appalachian area
4 hour line
2 pcts, 3 machines per precinct (there were 4 per pct in 2000)
1 machine was down
lack of poll workers; no was was directing the precinct split in
the line
- handicapped voters were not directed to accessible entrance or
helped in any way
handicapped voters given no preferential treatment in long lines
observed numerous problems with people voting and cried for three
hours when she got home
Jane Hubbard
volunteer at Cleveland Rd/Bryden Rd. pct
observed 2-3 hours wait
saw people leaving line
Stacey Mitchell-King
- Columbus public school teacher, took day off for election
protection
- delivered food to people in line at Eastland Lanes, Eastland Manor
and Franklin Middle School
observed very long lines at all
observed people leaving line
John Mannity
worked for German Village for Kerry
voted at Schiller Park pct
long lines
6 machines for two pcts E and F
observed long lines at nearby precincts, east of Parsons Ave.
bought ponchos for people standing in rain; fashioned garbage bag
ponchos
Pat Johnston
volunteered at Parsons Avenue Branch Library (poll observer)
800 people voted on 4 machines
rate was 55 people/hour
wait was at least 1.5 hour
handicapped people were not brought to front
Kathy Varian
poll worker, 49B, Cedar Woods
49B didn't open until 7:20 (nominal opening was 6:30)
very chaotic
precinct judge was overt Republican and officious toward voters
an elderly black woman waited 2 hours in line only to be
challenged and made to fill out a provisional ballot
precinct judge also made sexually harassing comments toward her
there were a lot of challenges
she wasn't allowed to accompany judge to deliver ballots and
tapes to the BOE; fears that he threw out provisionals
Mark Dunbar
bus driver for Columbus Public Schools
3 hour line at his pct
handicapped voters were not helped
people left the line
observed many precincts in minority areas on his bus route
throughout the day; long lines at all
Joe Cuspan
runner for Bexley 1A, 1B, 1C
only a half-hour line to vote in his line
minimal or no lines at any of these pcts all day
these are some of the wealthiest pcts in Columbus (includes
Governor's mansion)
--didn't hear name--
voted at Upper Arlington 6C, Windermere Elementary
obviously plenty of machines
observer 16 different UA pcts, 158 voters per machine
on machine tapes, noted many votes for Nader even though his name
had been covered with a sticker; evidently one could still push the
button and record a Nader vote
- took digital pictures of the machine tapes
Monica Justice
observed in 6 wards in the "Clintonville corridor"
300 people in line at 8:00pm at Linden Library
observed a very aggressive and volatile environment there
McDonald's and Pizza Hut delivered food to people in line
last voter went through around 11:00pm
Tim Byer
MoveOn.org pct leader, 47D, east of Bexley, north of Livingston
poll workers gave inaccurate info to voters
40 voters per hour processed by 3 machines
complicated ballot; he took all of the allotted 5 minutes even
though he votes a straight ticket
Michael Gremen
voter in Westerville 3B
has voted there every time during the last 5 years
this time his name was not on the voter list, even though his
wife's was on the list
had to vote provisionally
wonders if his role as a member of Citizen's For Democracy and
Ending Corporate Rule might have something to do with it
Tom Kessel
- watched Republican poll challengers in action in Bexley wards 4A
and 4C
- on three different occasions saw the poll challengers talking and
interacting with poll workers (they are not supposed to)
- they would desist when he said they weren't supposed to be
bugging the poll workers, but when he'd leave the area briefly they'd
go right back at it
- one time they were going over their challenge list with the
precinct judge
- one machine had severe intermittent problems in the morning, but
somebody kicked the side of it or something and it seemed to work
the rest of the day
- at the end of the day he noted that the Bush percentage on that
machine was much higher than on the other two machines in the
polling place, and had the fewest number of votes
Susan Truitt
Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections
says it's clear there's a pattern of discrimination in
machine allocations
Bill Moss then spoke:
this is about the integrity of the electoral process
a vote is a sacred right
as citizens it's our duty to uphold that right
he and his family had similar problems voting (long lines at
Eastside Middle School, had to return later, still long lines, many
people leaving, took him 3.5 hours to vote)
- result was predictable due to machinations of precinct officials
at the behest and leadership of Secretary of State Ken Blackwell
- Blackwell has conflict of interest as co-chair of Bush re-elect
Ohio
- never in 40 years has he personally taken more than 20 minutes in
line to vote
chaos was deliberately contrived
and why not since Americans rolled over so easily in 2000
all Ohio statewide elected offices held by one party -
Republicans; no checks and balances
same applies at national level
power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely
Blackwell's conduct approaches corruption
the only check is the people; questions will remain until we
investigate the vote
- held up a t-shirt: "Jail Blackwell the Vote Thief!"
--didn't catch name-- from Cobb campaign:
- Cobb (Green Party) and Badnarik (Libertarian) formally requested a recount and
they have raised the full filing fee.
after result is certified by the SOS, the recount itself will begin
contact votecobb.org to volunteer to be a recount observer
Cliff Arnebeck
lawyer; Common Cause
notes that the Green Party raised the vast majority of the funds
says it was an act of statesmanship by Cobb and Badnarik
Vicki Beasley (People For The American Way) started her summation
about where to go next and at this point the meeting got a bit
rambunctious as several people in the audience took issue with her
non-partisan "how do we make it better next time" approach.
They want something done about THIS election. Beasley said,
"overthrowing the government is not what we are about." Goldman said the
chances of reversing the election are vanishingly small. Response from
audience was who cares we have to try. The milquetoast approach had
definitely worn thin at this point.
Bill Moss took the cue for another rousing speech:
we should deal with WHAT HAPPENED ON THE 2ND OF NOVEMBER!
the 200 election was illegitimate
we must not give in to tyranny or the seeds of despotism
if we give in we are not worthy of the democracy that had been
handed us
Harvey Wasserman spoke:
- George W. Bush has not been legitimately elected president of the
US
in a few more years nothing will be left of democracy
this election was stolen--tangibly, consciously
Blackwell played the Katherine Harris role, with the governor's
seat as the plum
Blackwell repelled voters with the machine shortages
tens or hundreds of thousands were driven from the polls
a racial strategy was used; Ohio 2004 = Mississippi 1954