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Ohio Ballot Issues Address ’04 Election Ills

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The 2004 Ohio election had many problems1 [3]. A citizens group, Reform Ohio Now, got four issues on the ballot for Tuesday’s (November 8, 2005) election to address some of the problems2 [4]. The issues are:

After a problem-ridden election in 2004, Ohio voters can, one year later, vote on possible solutions.

Gerrymander

Ohio 13th Congressional District

Further Reading

Issues pros and cons + links to ballot language – THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF OHIO [13]

Sources

1 [14] ‘Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio’ – Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff, January 5, 2005 [15]

2 [16] Reform Ohio Now [17]

3 [18] ‘Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio’ – Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff, January 5, 2005 [15] “Numerous irregularities were reported throughout Ohio. In particular, in predominately Democratic and African-American areas, the voting process was chaotic, taxing and ultimately fruitless for many. The repeated and suspicious challenges of voter eligibility and a lack of inadequate number of voting machines in these areas worked in concert to slow voting to a crawl, with voting lines as long as ten hours.”

4 [19] ‘The Noe File’ (Coingate Timeline) – The Toledo Blade, 2005-10-28 [20] “April 3, 2005: The Blade reports the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation invested $50 million in rare coins with Maumee coin dealer Tom Noe, a prominent GOP donor and a Bush “Pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 for the President’s re-election campaign.”

5 [21] ‘The Noe File’ (Coingate Timeline) – The Toledo Blade, 2005-10-28 [20] “Sept. 29, 2005: Attorney General Jim Petro accuses Tom Noe of stealing millions from the state’s coin funds. Mr. Petro, in a lawsuit, charges that Mr. Noe engaged in check forgery, presented false profits, and stole millions from the state’s $50 million rare coin investment.”

6 [22] ‘The Noe File’ (Coingate Timeline) – The Toledo Blade, 2005-10-28 [20] — Aug. 18, 2005: Governor Taft pleads no contest and is convicted of four ethics violations for not properly reporting gifts. He becomes the first sitting Ohio governor convicted of a crime. He is fined $4,000 but avoids jail time.”

7 [23] ‘OHIO Rankings 2004′ – fairvote.org [24] “In 1992-1994, five incumbents lost their seats. Since then 70 of 71 incumbents have been re-elected.”

8 [25] ‘Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio’ – Status Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff, January 5, 2005 [15]
“Mr. Blackwell’s decision to restrict provisional ballots resulted in the disenfranchisement of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of voters, again predominantly minority and Democratic voters. Mr.Blackwell’s decision departed from past Ohio law on provisional ballots, and there is no evidence that a broader construction would have led to any significant disruption at the polling places, and did not do so in other states.”

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By Quinn Hungeski [26] – Posted at G.N.N. [27] & TheParagraph.com [28]

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