Delayed Reaction: Kerry alleges voters were 'suppressed'

• Links Vote Suppression issues to King's struggle

In his first high-profile address since conceding the presidential election, Senator John F. Kerry used Boston's annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast yesterday to decry what he called the suppression of thousands of would-be voters last November. "Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways," the former Democratic nominee told an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston. "In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans [went] through in 10 minutes. Same voting machines, same process, our America," Kerry said. In an e-mail message he sent to his supporters on the day before Congress certified the election results earlier this month, Kerry cited "widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials, and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote" in the battleground state of Ohio. But he also said his legal team had found no evidence that would alter the outcome. President Bush defeated Kerry in Ohio by 119,000 votes. Kerry has stayed out of the spotlight since the election, vacationing in Idaho and taking a tour of Europe and the Middle East without reporters in tow. He left and returned from that trip unannounced.  [more] and [more]

• Where Was Kerry? During the campaign, Kerry had vowed to “prevent them from stealing the election again.” “We’re going to pre-check it, we’re going to have the legal team in place,” Kerry said. “We’re going to take injunctions where necessary ahead of time. We’ll pre-challenge if necessary.” Kerry set aside a special fund for the purpose of battling the election out in the courts if it came to that. The campaign solicited contributions for a special legal fund“to win the post election day battles.” [more]