Election 2004 Irregularities - Ohio, part 3
Once again, the Secretary of State in the crucial state is also the head of that state's Bush campaign. Kenneth Blackwell recently sent out a fundraising letter to supporters in which he boasted of delivering the state to Bush and illegally solicited corporate contributions.
Blackwell also noted that he was “truly pleased” to announce President Bush the victor in Ohio even before all the votes had been counted. He adds that he declared the victor on his own personal belief.
“In the late hours of Election Night I was truly pleased to announce President Bush had won a critical and clinching victory here in Ohio, on the belief that it was statistically improbable for Senator Kerry to recover,” the Secretary penned.
Blackwell also noted that he was “truly pleased” to announce President Bush the victor in Ohio even before all the votes had been counted. He adds that he declared the victor on his own personal belief.
“In the late hours of Election Night I was truly pleased to announce President Bush had won a critical and clinching victory here in Ohio, on the belief that it was statistically improbable for Senator Kerry to recover,” the Secretary penned.
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FOR ACTUAL LETTER, CLICK HEREOhio’s Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell boasted of helping “deliver” Ohio for President Bush and said he was “truly pleased” to announce Bush had won Ohio even before all of the state’s votes had been counted in his own fundraising letter, RAW STORY has discovered.
The letter, which was received by a Butler County resident Dec. 31, is a plea to support Blackwell’s campaign for governor. The resident has asked to remain anonymous.
In apparent disregard for his nonpartisan role as Ohio’s chief election official, the Republican Secretary and chairman of Bush’s Ohio reelection campaign slammed Senator Kerry as a “disaster” who would have reaped “terrible” and “horrible” results on both Ohio and the United States.
Further, Blackwell’s use of the word “deliver” finds striking resonance with another controversial fundraising letter sent by the CEO of voting machine manufacturer Diebold Walden O’Dell in the summer of 2003 when he said he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”
Blackwell’s campaign office confirmed that they that sent the letter but offered no further comment.
“Without your enthusiasm, generous support and vote, I’m afraid the President would have lost,” Blackwell wrote, “And an unapologetic liberal Democrat named John Kerry would have won.”
“Thankfully,” he adds, “you and I stopped that disaster from happening.”
Blackwell also noted that he was “truly pleased” to announce President Bush the victor in Ohio even before all the votes had been counted. He adds that he declared the victor on his own personal belief.
“In the late hours of Election Night I was truly pleased to announce President Bush had won a critical and clinching victory here in Ohio, on the belief that it was statistically improbable for Senator Kerry to recover,” the Secretary penned.
Even in the wake of a House Judiciary Committee investigation by Democrats into voting irregularities in Ohio, Blackwell goes so far as to say that he was proud to prevent voting fraud. Myriad published reports have noted that Blackwell went out of his way to keep voters from voting–at one point insisting that voter registration cards be accepted only on paper of a certain weight.
“I have never shied away from giving the liberals fits,” he remarked in the letter. “And I’m sure that with all the voter fraud we prevented during this last election, they will be looking to get even with me in my next political campaign.”
Rep. John Conyers’ (D-Mich) report on voting irregularities will blast Blackwell for his transparent partisanship Wednesday. RAW STORY has been given excepts of the report.
“Many have strongly suspected that the inexplicable and arbitrary decisions of Secretary Blackwell stemmed from partisan political motivations,” Conyers’ staff report declares. “This suspicion is apparently bolstered by Secretary Blackwell himself in a recently-sent fund-raising letter.”
Conyers’ report showers scorn on Blackwell for his pleasure in announcing Bush’s victory.
“Such a blatant statement acknowledging the commingling of his official duty to ensure a fair election with his partisan duty to re-elect President Bush, made in a political fund-raising appeal, evidences Secretary Blackwell’s poor judgment at best, and the manipulation of election administration for partisan purposes, at worst,” the report asserts.
The attorney for the Green Party John Bonifaz who has filed suit in Ohio seeking a second recount said he was deeply troubled by the letter.
“I think it’s troubling to see a Secretary of State overseeing an election to act in such a partisan manner about an election that had so many troubling irregularities and is now the subject of a court case,” Bonifaz told RAW STORY late Tuesday.
“He has thwarted the recount law and has prevented the recount to be counted with uniform standards throughout the state of Ohio as is required by the due process guarantee
of the U.S. constitution,” he added. “This fundraising letter only underscores the fact that Secretary Blackwell’s interests in this matter were at best arguably partisan and at worst deliberately partisan. Either way, it erodes public confidence in the process to have a Secretary of State engage in such partisan behavior.”
Staff reporter Larisa Alexandrovna contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Blackwell had at one point ordered that absentee ballots only be accepted on paper of a certain weight. He in fact ordered that only voter registration cards be accepted on paper of a certain weight.
Ohio letter seeks illegal contributions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state's chief elections officer, accused of mishandling the presidential vote in Ohio, sent a fund-raising letter for his own 2006 gubernatorial campaign that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions.
A pledge card with the letter from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who co-chaired the Bush-Cheney election campaign in Ohio, said "corporate & personal checks are welcome."
Corporate donations are illegal in Ohio.
His spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said Saturday that any corporate donations would be returned.
Blackwell said the request sent to GOP donors and activists was an oversight. His campaign's fund-raising coordinator, Jeff Ledbetter, blamed a printer for the mistake, saying it used a template for an issue committee, which is allowed to accept corporate donations.
Ledbetter told The Columbus Dispatch that no corporate donations had been received in response to the letter.
Blackwell's letter also praises Republicans for helping deliver Ohio to President Bush.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who prepared a report on election problems in Ohio, said the letter supports suspicions that Blackwell's actions as secretary of state during the election "stemmed from partisan political motivations" to help Bush.
Conyers said in a statement that the letter "evidences Secretary Blackwell's poor judgment at best, and the manipulation of election administration for partisan purposes, at worst."
A group of voters citing fraud has challenged Bush's 118,500-vote win in Ohio with the state Supreme Court, citing irregularities including long lines, a shortage of voting machines in minority precincts and problems with computer equipment.
Blackwell has maintained that he is permitted to campaign for Bush and that Ohio's election system has checks and balances to ensure fair elections.
"I have an obligation to follow the law," Blackwell said.
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