Waiting in lines for hours. Machines that recorded the votes for the opposite candidate than the one voted for. Names of registered voters purged or in dispute. Machine results that showed more votes for a candidate than registered voters for that precinct. These were just a few of the problems seen in Ohio this past Nov. 2.

Long before the Kerry Campaign jumped in on recount efforts, David Cobb, the ’04 Green presidential candidate, and Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian presidential candidate, had requested the recount and began to raise the money needed for it. They even raised enough money to pay for observers in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

While it’s unlikely that a properly done recount would give Kerry the votes necessary to de-throne Bush, the recount is still important. All it takes is for the voting public to have the perception their vote won’t count to keep them from going to the polls. That’s something the corrupt powerful would like to see happen – it gives them a “mandate” to follow whatever policies they choose, no matter how destructive.

The recount process called for 3% of votes from randomly selected precincts to be manually counted by Ohio law, and if those results did not match the certified results from those precincts a full manual recount would be required.

Problems with the recount included not using randomly selected precincts and instances where workers altered ballots to make sure that the recount results matched the certified results.

Lawyers for Cobb and Badnarik have asked a federal court for a second recount, and Cobb is asking for public support in organizing protests and contacting members of congress to reject the electoral college vote of Ohio until after a fair recount can be accomplished.

This is not the first time that David Cobb and Michael Badnarik have come together to try to right the wrongs of our election process. Earlier in the election season, Cobb and Badnarik crossed police lines and were arrested at the presidential debates to attempt to participate, or at the very least, bring public awareness to the unfairness of the debates that only included two candidates rather than all eligible presidential candidates.

Cobb and Badnarik have shown that third party candidates, although not likely to win the presidency any time soon, have a unique opportunity to help change what’s wrong with our current system.

More Info on the Ohio Recount:

David Cobb
http://www.votecobb.org/

Michael Badnarik
http://badnarik.org/

Third-Party Candidates Ask Court for Another Recount of Ohio Vote
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1231-07.htm

Vote Challengers Accuse Blackwell of Trying to Let 'Clock Run Out'
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0101-05.htm