In his first high-profile address since
conceding the presidential election, Senator John F. Kerry used
Boston's annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast yesterday to
decry what he called the suppression of thousands of would-be voters
last November. "Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to
vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways," the former
Democratic nominee told an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 at the Boston
Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston. "In Democratic
districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while
Republicans [went] through in 10 minutes. Same voting machines, same
process, our America," Kerry said. In an e-mail message he sent to his
supporters on the day before Congress certified the election results
earlier this month, Kerry cited "widespread reports of irregularities,
questionable practices by some election officials, and instances of
lawful voters being denied the right to vote" in the battleground state
of Ohio. But he also said his legal team had found no evidence that
would alter the outcome. President Bush defeated Kerry in Ohio by
119,000 votes. Kerry has stayed out of the spotlight since the
election, vacationing in Idaho and taking a tour of Europe and the
Middle East without reporters in tow. He left and returned from that
trip unannounced. [more] and [more]
Where Was Kerry?During the campaign, Kerry had vowed to
“prevent them from stealing the election again.” “We’re going to
pre-check it, we’re going to have the legal team in place,” Kerry said.
“We’re going to take injunctions where necessary ahead of time. We’ll
pre-challenge if necessary.” Kerry set aside a special fund for the
purpose of battling the election out in the courts if it came to that.
The campaign solicited contributions for a special legal fund“to win
the post election day battles.” [more]
