Counting Electoral Votes--Joint Session of the House and Senate Held Pursuant To the Provisions of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1

COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES--JOINT SESSION OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE HELD PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 (HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES--JANUARY 6, 2005) -- (House of Representatives - January 06, 2005)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, although I will not file an objection to the counting of Ohio's electoral votes, I rise today to acknowledge the voting discrepancies and irregularities that occurred in the State of Ohio in this past presidential election.

As is evident in my colleague JOHN CONYERS's voting rights status report, Ohio has failed to provide the opportunity for its citizens to have equal access and opportunity to cast their vote and have that vote accurately counted.

Many voters were denied provisional ballots and some eligible voters were improperly purged. Others were given erroneous information as to where and when they could vote. The State provided insufficient resources to minority precincts, resulting in long lines that caused delays up to 10 hours, forcing some voters to have to leave those lines to tend to personal obligations.

There were rampant incidents of voter intimidation, deceptive phone calls and fraudulent fliers on official looking letterhead.

The lack of a verifiable paper trail by some of the electronic voting machines contributed to a questionable vote count.

Clearly, Ohio's election officials, including Secretary of State Blackwell, have questions to answer regarding these disturbing irregularities.

How can we encourage free and fair elections in Iraq, a country that may soon become a fledgling democracy, when we can't ensure free and fair elections in America after 200 years of democracy.

As a Member of Congress it is my duty to uphold the right of the people to have free and fair elections of their government officials. It is my hope that this Congress will work together in the coming months to enact real election reform that will restore America's confidence in the electoral process.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov