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From the NewsMax.com Staff
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For the story behind the story...
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Thursday, June 23, 2005 9:37 a.m. EDT
Dems Find No Vote Fraud in Ohio
The 2004 presidential election in Ohio was settled when President Bush won the decisive state by a great enough margin that Sen. John Kerry conceded.
But the state's vote still is a sore point for the party on the losing side, which released the results of a poll it commissioned that said Ohio voters had to deal with long lines, poorly trained election officials, illegal identification requirements and evidence that voting was discouraged.
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However, the survey was based on questions to only 1,201 Ohioans said to be randomly selected, and the Democrats were unable to come up with evidence of vote fraud by Republicans, leaving them bitter.
"This is bad for America," DNC chairman Howard Dean said. "We need to repair and restructure the way we conduct elections in America."
Donna Brazile, chair of the Democrats' Voting Rights Institute, said, "The data clearly indicates that the system failed far too many Ohio voters," although 1,200 voters surveyed out of millions is hardly a representative sample.
Indeed, after a five-month investigation, the team of election experts, public opinion researchers and voting technology specialists were unable to come up with evidence that there were anything except understandable difficulties related to 100 million Americans all voting on the same day, but the team did offer some recommendations that Democrats will pursue.
making sure all communities have access to enough voting machines.
setting clear and uniform standards for voter registration.
creating statewide voter lists.
using voting machines that allow voters a chance to correct errors on the ballot.
National Republican Chairman Ken Mehlman dismissed the report as "pure political fiction."
He said in a statement: "The undisputed facts in Ohio are: Democrat officials had to be stopped by the courts from misleading voters about the day of the election; a Democrat affiliated group paid a worker in crack cocaine to submit fraudulent voter forms; and Democrat allies attempted to disenfranchise Ohio voters by submitting registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Michael Jordan.
"Republicans will continue to register and inspire new voters, make it easier for everyone to vote at the polls and protect everyone's franchise from being cancelled out by illegal or fraudulent registration."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2004 Elections
DNC
RNC
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