Could the Ohio Verdicts be the Tip of a National Iceberg? 
Fitrakis and Wasserman, who reported the following information in The Free Press, have been in the forefront on 2004 Ohio voting fraud from the beginning. John Kerry shamefully conceded to George W. Bush in the midst of widespread evidence of vote corruption in numerous states, specifically in election-deciding Ohio.
After Kerry's concession it was the Green Party, of which Fitrakis and Wasserman are prominent members, that took a forward step for democracy and financed the recount effort in Ohio. That state held the balance in the Electoral College.
Fitrakis and Wasserman, along with Steve Rosenfeld, are the authors of "What Happened in Ohio?" that has just been published by the New Press. Fitzrakis was an independent candidate in the 2006 Ohio's gubernatorial election and was endorsed by the Green Party.
The question now is how many others throughout the state were involved in comparable illegal practices? The convictions relate to two prominent election board officers from Cuyahoga County, which encompasses Cleveland, a vote rich city for the Democratic Party.
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who lost the 2006 governor's race to Democrat Ted Strickland, according to Fitzrakis and Wasserman, failed to engage in mandatory random sampling throughout the rest of the state as mandated by law.
In the words of Fitrakis and Wasserman:
"Instead (of engaging in mandatory sampling), poll workers illegally chose random sample precincts for recounting where they knew there would be no problems, and then routinely recounted the rest of the ballots by machine, rendering the account meaningless."
A major question emerging from the convictions of Maiden and Dreamer is whether they will implicate others, perhaps extending up the line to Blackwell, who from the beginning has been a focus of suspicion.
One area that has prompted strong criticism of Blackwell and imputations of wrongdoing was the manner in which Republican precinct polling stations were smaller with less voting problems than at highly overcrowded, predominantly African American stations.
When John Kerry refused to contest the Ohio result he turned his back on his party's most consistently reliable constituency, African Americans, many of whom stood for hours in a cold, driving rain to vote while white affluent voters had problem free voting experiences, coming and going promptly.
Ken Blackwell, an African American, shamefully punished scores of his own people in pursuit of opportunism. It was poetic justice that what he hoped would be a successful run up to the highest office in Ohio with active assistance from the Bush-Cheney-Rove machine was dramatically thwarted with a landslide loss to Strickland in November.
It was equally satisfying that Katherine Harris, who engaged in the same shameful practice of voter exclusion, which primarily impacted upon African Americans, four years earlier in Florida, received a stern dose of poetic justice last November as well. Harris was buried in a landslide loss at the hands of Senator Bill Nelson in her senatorial bid.
The Ohio effort must proceed full speed ahead in the interest of democracy with Ken Blackwell placed squarely on the radar screen. It should proceed as well nationally with Florida looming large in the picture. The Sunshine State, which held spotlight prominence in the 2000 presidential election, should be examined for strange and unexplained 2004 occurrences.
Who can forget Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman's sudden burst of exuberance when interviewed during what appeared to be a bleak moment for Bush and the Republicans on election night? Mehlman smiled with joy as he gushed over the strong performance of Bush in Florida's I-4 corridor, the area near vote rich Orlando on Interstate 4.
Who can forget corporate shill Robert Novak, after almost virtually breaking down in sorrow on CNN early on election night, suddenly smiling triumphantly after reportedly being told by a highly placed Republican operative that Ohio was not the lost cause that he had reported it to be earlier and would break for Republicans?
Novak's enthusiasm is more readily explained as spirited champions of democracy such as Fitrakis and Wasserman, in concert with others, investigate Ohio in search of the truth. So what about Florida and the I-4 solid break to the Republicans?
Many who have investigated the alleged I-4 phenomenon as well as some other "miraculous" surges for Bush as opposed to 2000 have concluded, to paraphrase Shakespeare, that there is something rotten in Florida ... again!
We know that those troublesome machines that majestically seem to break for Republicans with just enough votes were there again. We also know about New Mexico and how its Democratic Governor Bill Richardson, in the Kerry tradition, nixed a thorough and definitive recount.
What is needed is for grassroots forces that believe in democracy to take concerted action. What about a Democracy Project beginning with a thorough probing of the 2004 election? If the Bush crime family actually stole the election, shouldn't everyone know about it in the interest of truth?
I am sure such an idea would make Dick Morris, among others, nervous. Remember, he conceded that exit polls are well nigh invincibly accurate. Kerry carried the nation according to the exit polls by a 51-48 percent count, constituting an inconceivable 6-point swing.
Even Morris was virtually without an answer. He finally charged that Democrats must have rigged the nation's exit polls. Sure, Dick! If they could accomplish that then why not rig the actual election instead?
In conclusion, remember the 1965 Voting Rights Act? A thorough investigation need by launched and suspected wrongdoers should be indicted and tried under that landmark federal legislation.
KEYWORDS: Bob Fitzrakis, Harvey Wasserman, Ken Blackwell, Katherine Harris, 2004 Presidential Voting Corruption
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