Jesse Jackson seeks voting probe

Civil Rights Leader says Ohio High Court Should Consider Setting Aside Bush's Win [more]

The Rev. Jesse Jackson says Ohioans should not stand for the way elections were run in Ohio Nov. 2, and he planned to bring his message directly to Cincinnati today. Jackson was expected to speak at a rally this morning at Integrity Hall in Bond Hill, calling for an investigation of the voting process in Ohio. He said the rally this morning and one Sunday night in Columbus were to serve as "a kind of statewide sharing of experiences" that would mobilize citizens and result in "collective state action. "We are pulling people together from around the state," Jackson, president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said in a telephone interview Sunday. "The Ohio race has not yet been (decided) because of so many irregularities 26 days after the election." Jackson on Sunday called for a recount of votes and said the Ohio Supreme Court should consider setting aside President Bush's victory Nov. 2. Jackson and others are complaining about uncounted punch-card votes, disqualified provisional ballots, discrepancies between exit polling and results, and too many votes counted for President Bush in Ohio. Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry in Ohio by 136,000 votes, according to unofficial results. Jackson also said that there was a disparity in voting machinery used in suburban and urban neighborhoods. [more]