This came through the Coalition Against Election Fraud e-mail list. I strongly support this call to action (emphasis added).
For all those who would like to be protesting in Washington on Inauguration Day but will not be able to attend, this is a call to organize "Investigate Ohio" rallies at noon on Thursday, Jan. 20 at the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation nearest you.
We see the purpose of the rallies not only to protest what appears to be the second illegitimate inauguration of George W. Bush, but more importantly to push the FBI to fully investigate the evidence of widespread vote rigging in Ohio, and by inference in other states, as documented in the historic "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio" (pdf), published by the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic staff, under the leadership of Congressman John Conyers Jr.
The report, which has received no significant press attention, found: "...massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio. In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior..."
The report also said: "...Cumulatively, these irregularities, which affected hundreds of thousands of votes and voters in Ohio, raise grave doubts regarding whether it can be said the Ohio electors, selected on December 13, 2004, were chosen in a manner that conforms to Ohio law, let alone federal requirements and constitutional standards."
Laws apparently violated include: The Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Equal Protection, Due Process and Ohio right to vote laws. This, of course, means that there is likely no legitimacy to the 2004 Bush "election".
In spite of the exceptional documentation in the Conyers report, which formed the basis for objections to Congressional approval of the Ohio presidential vote on Jan. 6, by Barbara Boxer in the Senate and 31 House members, the FBI has failed to investigate the apparent widespread violations of Federal law.
Indeed, as of earlier this week, the FBI failed to answer a December 15 request by Congressman Conyers for investigation of possible tampering with Ohio voting machines by the firm Triad. The FBI has made no response to a request of investigation of the Presidential vote in Ohio, Florida and other states, made on December 3 by citizens of Westchester County, New York. Congressman Conyers continues to seek FBI action and to call for a full investigation of Ohio by Congress.
We see the rallies as a way of not only specifically supporting Congressman Conyers, but to thank Senator Boxer and the House members who had the courage to object to "Ohio" and by implication, the election and inauguration of George W. Bush. The rallies, further, would thank the hundreds of citizens who have worked tirelessly in Ohio, Florida and a number of other states to document and publicize widespread voter disenfranchisement.
Congressman Conyers' appears to be the only initiative now available that could result in convictions for Ohio voter disenfranchisment. It can be argued that there is no way to prevent further schemes for disenfranchisement without convictions for what happened in Ohio.
We recommend that you read the Conyers report, which can be found at http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/, because it documents specific steps that were taken in Ohio to dismantle the franchise, particularly for black voters and also, to a lesser degree, for low-income and young voters.
In Ohio, and other key states, the challenge for Republican officials, party workers and consultants was to counteract the highly effective voter registration drives aimed at likely supporters of Democratic candidates.
The Conyers report shows that Ohio Republicans moved to meet this challenge in a number of well-conceived, systematic, illegal steps that exploited weaknesses in the state voting system, including: failure to put adequate numbers of voting machines in precincts where a high Democratic turnout was expected, particularly black precincts; manipulation of provisional ballots; voter intimidation; misinformation to voters; and manipulation of voting machines.
A particularly interesting incident, that one would think would spark FBI interest, is cited in the Conyers report:
"In Franklin County, a worker at the Holiday Inn observed a team of 25 people who called themselves the 'Texas Strike Force' using payphones to make intimidating calls to likely voters, targeting people recently in the prison system. The 'Texas Strike Force' members paid their way to Ohio, but their hotel accomodations were paid for by the Ohio Republican Party, whose headquarters is across the street. The hotel worker heard one caller threaten a likely voter with being reported to the FBI and returning to jail if he voted. Another hotel worker called the police, who came but did nothing."
It is essential that we demand justice in Ohio, and other states.
For additional information, please contact: Nick Mottern (914)806-6179, Investigate N-02.
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