Nothing is in writing and daybreak is a long way away, but it appeared all but certain in early evening Wednesday that House Democrats had secured the support of up to half a dozen Senators to formally challenge the Electoral College slate from Ohio, when the votes are opened before a joint session of Congress tomorrow.The full Conyers report (House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff, Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio) is available as a pdf file here.
Congressional sources tell this reporter that the house half of the written objection — which has the declared support of more than a dozen Representatives — is expected to be signed by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio...
As it is, a written challenge would require the joint session to suspend for several hours, during which the Senate and the House would meet separately and debate the merits of the objection.
The ad hoc group formed by Representative John Conyers of Michigan has also today published its staff report, concluding that before, during, and after the election in Ohio, many state laws may have been broken, in every area ranging from the allocation of voting machines, election day "anomalies," and the recount. It recommended a formal Congressional inquiry, and additional legislation to reform voting laws.
Update: Representative Tubbs-Jones has a letter in the PD today in which she says, among other things:
... this objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning or challenging the victory of the president, but it is a necessary, timely and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy.You have to scroll down from the link to find Tubbs-Jones' letter. While you're at it, be sure to read the first and third letters, from (respectively) Geoff Beckman and Judy Gallo. Here's Geoff's, with a link added:
Tuesday's editorial screed ("Please, let it go") about "beating a dead horse" omits one critical fact: There is absolutely no point at which voting authorities in the state of Ohio - or The Plain Dealer - considered the horse to be alive.I second that emotion.
For four solid months prior to the election, nonpartisan voter registration groups in almost every county expressed concern about the boards of elections' visible lack of preparation for what would obviously be an extremely high turnout. But reports of 120-day delays in processing registrations, voters being improperly removed from the election rolls, unreturned phone calls, unmailed postcards and lack of response to questions about preparations were brushed aside. Words like "alarmist," "unnecessary" and "premature" were employed, because the horse had not been born yet.
The day after the election, the Ohio secretary of state and this newspaper announced that statewide voting had gone smoothly, with no major errors. The horse, we were informed, had died a peaceful, natural death.
Would The Plain Dealer be kind enough to inform citizens who have concerns about how voting is handled in Ohio exactly when they may be permitted to air their concerns without being scolded?