Democrats Force Debate on Election Mishaps
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25 minutes ago Top Stories - AP
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A group of Democrats angry with Election Day problems in Ohio forced Congress on Thursday to interrupt its ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that gave President Bush (news - web sites) his re-election victory.
The challenge does not jeopardize Bush's November win over Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites). But the House and Senate, as legally required, began separate debates on the Ohio irregularities. It marked only the second time since 1877 that the House and Senate were forced into separate meetings to consider electoral votes.
The joint session began as required by law at 1 p.m. EST, with Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) presiding as the Senate's president and about 100 lawmakers present. One by one and in alphabetical order, certificates of each state's electoral votes were withdrawn from ceremonial mahogany boxes and read aloud.
Sixteen minutes into the session when Ohio's votes were read, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (news, bio, voting record), D-Ohio, issued her challenge, saying the votes "were not under all of the known circumstances regularly given."
Her challenge to Ohio's 20 electoral votes — which put Bush over the top — was joined by Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. By law, a protest signed by members of the House and Senate requires both chambers to meet separately for up to two hours to consider it. Lawmakers are allowed to speak for no more than five minutes each.
"I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer wrote in a letter to Tubbs Jones, a leader of the Democratic effort.
The action seems certain to leave Bush's victory intact because both Republican-controlled chambers would have to uphold the objection for Ohio's votes to be invalidated. Supporters of the drive said that rather than changing the election outcome, their hope was to shine a national spotlight on the Ohio voting problems.
"The goal is to debate the issue," Tubbs Jones said in an interview. "And why not? We go across the world trying to ensure democracy, but there are some problems with the process in the United States."
Underscoring that the result was not in doubt, Kerry, who conceded to Bush the day after the Nov. 2 election, said he would not join the challenge. The four-term Massachusetts senator was in the Middle East, thanking U.S. troops for their service.
In a statement, Kerry said there are "very troubling questions" about the Ohio voting and he would present a plan later to improve voting procedures.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan dismissed the move as politically driven.
"I think the American people expect members of Congress to work together and move forward on the real priorities facing this country, instead of engaging in conspiracy theories and rehashing issues that were settled long ago," McClellan said.
Senate Democratic aides said many Democrats — including new Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. — initially opposed challenging the Ohio vote, concerned that it would do little but antagonize voters who consider the election over.
In an interview, Boxer said no Democrats asked her to change her mind from her "hard decision."
"We cannot keep turning our eyes away from a flawed system particularly as we have people dying in Iraq (news - web sites) every day to bring democracy to those people," she said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declined to say whether she supports Boxer's decision, but said the move would call public attention to voting problems. She said she would vote to uphold the Ohio vote.
Bush's victory margin was one factor making the challenge politically daunting. He won an Ohio recount by more than 118,000 votes, and won nationally by more than 3 million.
Bush defeated Kerry by 286 to 252 electoral votes on Election Day, with 270 needed for victory. When electors met last month in state capitals to formally vote, an unknown Kerry elector in Minnesota cast a secret ballot for former Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites), D-N.C., Kerry's running mate.
On Wednesday, Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), issued a report claiming "numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election," and cited machine shortages and extremely long lines in minority and Democratic precincts.
In January 2001, a group of House Democrats protested the 2000 election because of Florida's ballot problems. But with the country weary of that contest's six weeks of recounts and turmoil, no senator joined in and the challenge failed.
The last time the two chambers were forced to interrupt their joint session and meet separately was in January 1969, when a "faithless" North Carolina elector designated for Richard Nixon voted instead for independent George Wallace. Both chambers agreed to allow the vote for Wallace.
The previous challenge requiring separate House and Senate meetings was in 1877 during the disputed contest that Rutherford Hayes eventually won over Samuel Tilden.
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