Ohio's History of Voter Suppression in African American Community Likely to Have Affected Election Results

Interview with Greg Palast, BBC-TV investigative reporter and author, conducted by Scott Harris

As voters cast their ballots for president on Nov. 2, exit pollsters reported that Democrat John Kerry held a decisive lead in many of the key battleground states. The news of an impending Kerry victory derived from the exit polls, buoyed his supporters and depressed those backing the Bush campaign. But as election night wore on, and votes were counted in the crucial state of Ohio, it became clear that President Bush, not Kerry would be the victor. Sen. Kerry conceded the election just 12 hours after his running mate John Edwards had promised supporters that the Democratic candidates would fight to insure that every vote would be counted.

But disturbing questions about how the election was conducted are gathering momentum around the country. Journalists and activists are now looking into reports that tens of thousands of ballots, cast primarily by people of color, were improperly thrown out after being labeled as "spoiled." Other questions involve miscounts in favor of the president made by electronic voting machines and GOP election tactics employed to suppress the democratic vote through a variety of means. A pattern of anomalies in some Florida counties operating with optical scanning machines, which saw Democratic Party majority districts overwhelmingly vote for president Bush, is also being investigated. Several Democratic congressional representatives have sent a letter to the General Accounting Office requesting an inquiry into voting irregularities.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with BBC television reporter Greg Palast, author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," who's investigations uncovered a Republican purge of tens of thousands of voters in the 2000 Florida election. Palast discusses his investigation into the 2004 election and explains why he believes that if all the votes are counted, John Kerry would win the presidency.

Read Greg Palast's columns online and get more information about his new BBC-TV film documentary, "Bush Family Fortunes," at www.gregpalast.com

Related links:



Black Box Voting www.blackboxvoting.org

Voting irregularities and possible fraud principally in Ohio and Florida, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Nov. 8, 2004. Discusses the Warren County, Ohio lockdown by Homeland Security, which prevented media from observing the last of the Ohio precincts to count the votes on Election Day.

"Kerry Won," by Greg Palast, TomPaine.com, Nov. 4, 2004

"How They Could Steal The Election This Time," by Ronnie Dugger, The Nation, July 29, 2004

"Defending Voting Rights: ACLU files suit in Stewart v. Blackwell," ACLU of Ohio press release, October 2002

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