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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>From today’s (December 31, 2004) Spokesman review.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Both the Green Party and Libertarian Party are seeking a
recount in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Note to Dale “Doug’s Boy” Courtney: Being
a Libertarian, as you claim, I suggest that you stand behind your party and openly
support their demand for this recount, ok?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Third-party candidates seek second <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State> recount <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Green Party, Libertarian say they want all votes counted<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Jay Cohen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Associated Press<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>December 31, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two third-party presidential
candidates asked a federal court Thursday to force a second recount of the Ohio
vote, alleging county election boards altered votes and didn't follow proper
procedures in the recount that ended this week.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Lawyers for Green Party candidate David Cobb and the
Libertarian Party's Michael Badnarik made their request in federal court in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Columbus</st1:place></st1:City>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The two candidates, who received less than 0.3 percent of
the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>
vote, paid $113,600 for a statewide recount after the vote was certified
earlier this month by the secretary of state. They have said they don't expect
to change the election results, but want to make sure that every vote is
properly counted.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Ohio</span></font></st1:State></st1:place><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> and its 20
electoral votes tipped the race to President Bush when Sen. John Kerry conceded
the morning after the Nov. 2 election.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Counties finished the recount Tuesday. Bush won the state by
118,457 votes over Kerry, according to unofficial results provided to the
Associated Press by the 88 counties.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"We've documented in this filing how this recount was
not conducted in accordance with uniform standards throughout <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>" as required by the U.S.
Constitution, said John Bonifaz, a lawyer from the National Voting Right
Institute representing the candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Ohio</span></font></st1:place></st1:State><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> law
requires an elections board to manually recount a randomly selected 3 percent
of ballots. If the totals match certified results for those precincts, all the
county's votes are then machine-counted. If the hand count is off, a county
must manually recount all its ballots.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit originally brought by
a county board of elections to stop the recount, alleges counties did not
randomly select precincts for the manual recount and some workers altered votes
to prevent a full hand count.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Bonifaz said the filing is based on the experiences of Green
Party representatives who observed the recount.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth
Blackwell, called the contentions "baseless accusations."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>"The ballots were counted in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Ohio</st1:place></st1:State>, they were counted again, they were
recounted. The election is over," LoParo said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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