Jesse Jackson: In Cleveland as in Kiev

In the Ukraine, citizens are in the streets protesting what they charge is a fixed election. Secretary of State Colin Powell expresses this nation's concern about apparent voting irregularities. The media give the dispute around-the-clock coverage. But in the United States, massive and systemic voter irregularities go unreported and unnoticed. Ohio is this election year's Florida. The vote in Ohio decided the presidential race, but it was marred by intolerable, and often partisan, irregularities and discrepancies. US citizens have as much reason as those in Kiev to be concerned that the fix was in. Ohio determines the election. But because of mounting irregularities, the vote in this state was not certified until this Monday, 34 days after the election. People of conscience demand that a full and complete investigation of these irregularities is undertaken. Their outrage is made intolerable by the fact that the secretary of state in charge of the count, Ken Blackwell, holds, like the disreputable Katherine Harris of Florida's fiasco in 2000, a dual role: he is secretary of state with control over voting procedures and co-chair of George Bush's Ohio campaign. This foul and ugly conflict of interest is unacceptable - and made grotesque by the voting irregularities in the state. A thorough investigation, count and recount of Ohio's vote should be made. [more]