Blackwell Continues to Dodge Questions.
COBB/LaMARCHE 2004
http://www.votecobb.org
December 22, 2004
Contact: Blair Bobier, Media Director at 541.929.5755
BLACKWELL CONTINUES TO DODGE QUESTIONS
Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb said
today that Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has refused to
answer questions about the recount process and about a multitude of
problems with the underlying presidential election in Ohio.
"Mr. Blackwell's conduct is insulting and
inexcusable. He has refused to answer clarifying questions about the
recount process and has also refused to answer questions posed to him in
writing by a number of members of Congress," said Cobb.
Cobb had previously called for Blackwell's recusal
from the recount process, citing Blackwell's conflict of interest by
serving simultaneously as a co-chair for the Bush campaign in Ohio and
as the state official responsible for overseeing the election. Reverend
Jesse Jackson, Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and a
number of citizens' organizations have joined Cobb's demand for
Blackwell's recusal.
"Given Mr. Blackwell's lack of cooperation and
the problems which have plagued the recount, we have to wonder whether
he is an incompetent elections administrator or whether he is
deliberately obstructing the recount process. It is very clear that he
has a conflict of interest and should have stepped aside weeks
ago," said Cobb.
Cobb's legal team had sent Mr. Blackwell a letter on
December 7 requesting clarification on a number of points about the
recount process. Mr. Blackwell never replied. Representative John
Conyers and eleven other members of the U.S. House of Representatives
sent Mr. Blackwell a letter on December 2, posing 36 questions to the
Ohio Secretary of State concerning irregularities in the presidential
election. Mr. Blackwell did not answer any of the questions.
Representative Conyers stated in a subsequent letter to Mr. Blackwell
that Blackwell's refusal to answer the questions is "part of a
pattern of decisions that have worked to obstruct and stonewall a search
for the truth about voting irregularities."
General information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign
and the Green Party can be found at http://www.votecobb.org.
To see first hand reports from observers monitoring
the county-by-county Ohio recount, see
http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php.
