Sound familiar: a swing state, some improper ballots, and a very partisan Republican Secretary of State issuing directives designed to minimize voter participation. This Florida 2000 scenario is looking increasingly likely to play out in Clamor’s very own home state of Ohio.

After being the darling of so many GOTV (get out the vote) discussions, some people have suggested the state is a lost cause, citing Bush’s lead in the polls. But we all know how polls are and that they don’t count all the newly-registered voters (and there are a lot of them in Ohio). As it was in Florida, I think we can say that the margin of difference is smaller than the margin of error.

This election’s Katherine Harris is Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, an African American and a big Bush booster. He’s issued so many cockamamie directives he’s lost credibility among local election boards, who are now selectively choosing which ones to follow.

It’s gotten so bad, State legislators are calling for Blackwell’s resignation. The NAACP is trying to pressure him to allow parolees to vote after many were improperly informed that they could not.

Some ballots may wind up being marred. Officials in Lucas County (where you’ll find Clamor HQ) can’t agree on how to remove Ralph Nader’s name from the ballots that were printed before a judge booted him off.

So, it looks like democracy may need defending in Ohio come November 2. Who’s going to do it? Hopefully, the traditional suffrage soldiers - African Americans, women, working class. If they don’t pick up the fight - with civil disobedience and work stoppages if necessary - then how much can we do? How will the media react?

And, a question I’d love to have answered by readers of this blog, what role can radicals play in this fight for electoral democracy?

– Joshua Breitbart, Consulting Editor

This entry was posted on Monday, October 4th, 2004 at 2:00 am by amanda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.