BLACKWELL AHEAD IN THE POLLS AS NEW "HB3" BILL IS PROPOSED
www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1754
www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13736798.htm
Gubernatorial candidate, Ken Blackwell’s potential to win the Ohio 2006 election is looking more favorable every day. One of the recent developments contributing to this is the proposed bill “HB3,” which according to Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, co-authors of “How the GOP Stole America’s 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008 will, make it virtually impossible for anyone but a Republican to carry the Buckeye State in future statewide and federal elections.”
The bill is designed to create greater security against illegal voting or tampering with votes as it will require several different forms of identification to verify a persons identity and will also “eliminate the state statutes that allowed citizens to challenge the outcome of federal elections within the state” (Fitrakis and Harvey). I don’t think anyone wants to see the mess we had with Ohio in the last presidential election to ever happen again. The new bill, “HB3,” which is expected to pass, would mean that any challenges or disputes to elections for Senate, Congress, or President, would have to go directly to Congress. The matter would be entirely out of the State’s hands.
One of the objections concerning this bill is that the “restrictive” ID requirements of: a photo ID, a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check or other government document showing the name and current address of the voter will “virtually eliminate the homeless, elderly and impoverished from the voting rolls” (Fitrakis and Harvey).
Furthermore, according to Fitrakis and Harvery the new ID requirements are “perfectly designed to slow down the voting process in inner city precincts,” which is “meant to allow Republican “challengers” to intimidate anyone who turns up to vote in heavily Democratic precincts,” a bit of a stretch of the imagination if you ask me, nevertheless if this theory were true it would obviously play strongly in the favor of republican gubernatorial hopeful, Ken Blackwell (or Attorney General, Jim Petro, for that matter). This would also become particularly significant for future presidential elections because, as was cited by Fitrakis and Harvey, “only one presidential candidate - John F. Kennedy in 1960 - has won the White House without carrying Ohio.”
All this comes on the heels of the announcement that Betty Montgomery has officially dropped out of the race for governor and Jim Petro, the other republican candidate running for office is apparently behind in the polls. “The poll showed Blackwell leading 40 percent points to 30 over Petro in the primary, but also noted that 29 percent of respondents were undecided” (Welsh-Huggins). These results were shared by Bob Bennett, Ohio Republican Party chairman, with the two candidates whom he had a private meeting with. “Based on the reaction of both campaigns after the results were released neither candidate had immediate plans to leave the race” (Welsh-Huggins).
www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13736798.htm
Gubernatorial candidate, Ken Blackwell’s potential to win the Ohio 2006 election is looking more favorable every day. One of the recent developments contributing to this is the proposed bill “HB3,” which according to Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, co-authors of “How the GOP Stole America’s 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008 will, make it virtually impossible for anyone but a Republican to carry the Buckeye State in future statewide and federal elections.”
The bill is designed to create greater security against illegal voting or tampering with votes as it will require several different forms of identification to verify a persons identity and will also “eliminate the state statutes that allowed citizens to challenge the outcome of federal elections within the state” (Fitrakis and Harvey). I don’t think anyone wants to see the mess we had with Ohio in the last presidential election to ever happen again. The new bill, “HB3,” which is expected to pass, would mean that any challenges or disputes to elections for Senate, Congress, or President, would have to go directly to Congress. The matter would be entirely out of the State’s hands.
One of the objections concerning this bill is that the “restrictive” ID requirements of: a photo ID, a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check or other government document showing the name and current address of the voter will “virtually eliminate the homeless, elderly and impoverished from the voting rolls” (Fitrakis and Harvey).
Furthermore, according to Fitrakis and Harvery the new ID requirements are “perfectly designed to slow down the voting process in inner city precincts,” which is “meant to allow Republican “challengers” to intimidate anyone who turns up to vote in heavily Democratic precincts,” a bit of a stretch of the imagination if you ask me, nevertheless if this theory were true it would obviously play strongly in the favor of republican gubernatorial hopeful, Ken Blackwell (or Attorney General, Jim Petro, for that matter). This would also become particularly significant for future presidential elections because, as was cited by Fitrakis and Harvey, “only one presidential candidate - John F. Kennedy in 1960 - has won the White House without carrying Ohio.”
All this comes on the heels of the announcement that Betty Montgomery has officially dropped out of the race for governor and Jim Petro, the other republican candidate running for office is apparently behind in the polls. “The poll showed Blackwell leading 40 percent points to 30 over Petro in the primary, but also noted that 29 percent of respondents were undecided” (Welsh-Huggins). These results were shared by Bob Bennett, Ohio Republican Party chairman, with the two candidates whom he had a private meeting with. “Based on the reaction of both campaigns after the results were released neither candidate had immediate plans to leave the race” (Welsh-Huggins).
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