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Trumpets played “Taps” as members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign and the public gathered around the coffin with 350 small American flags inside it, each flag representing 100 disenfranchised voters in the 2004 election.
This November 2nd, in contrast to that cold and rainy day three years ago, was sunny and clear. Downtown Columbus was silent save for the sound of the wind whipping the Ohio flag against the Statehouse flagpole, a sound which punctuated Tim Kettler’s opening eulogy:
“We will visit the office of Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Attorney General and ask why have they have permitted a system to exist that ignores election crimes, that allows private corporations to own and control our elections, and allows those most vulnerable and least heard, the poor and working poor, to be ignored once again.”
After the eulogies, the trumpets played, the pallbearers raised the casket, and the mourners followed the casket as it proceeded down E. Broad Street, past the Franklin County Board of Elections, the Secretary of State’s Office, and the Attorney General’s office.
The procession stopped in front of each of these offices, the trumpets played, the casket was displayed, and death certificates were hand-delivered to representatives of these offices. The certificates read, in part:
By the authority of
We the People
Ohio Voters Hereby Declare
Democracy, Honest Elections, and the Rule of Law
Having deceased November 2, 2004
Although each office was notified in advance, only representatives of the Attorney General’s office met with the group and accepted the death certificate to deliver to Attorney General Marc Dann.
We appreciate their recognition of the great loss to our state, our nation, and the world on this day, the third anniversary of an election so flawed that for the first time in U.S. history, an entire state’s Electoral College votes were challenged.
We especially appreciate the many well-wishers we met along the way of our procession and those who joined us from the public and the media.
We invited them, as we invite all readers of this account, to attend the upcoming Community Leader’s Forum on outstanding election justice issues. It will be held next Sunday, November 11, 2007, 12:45 p.m., at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road, Columbus, Ohio.
For more information and to donate:
http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC
This November 2nd, in contrast to that cold and rainy day three years ago, was sunny and clear. Downtown Columbus was silent save for the sound of the wind whipping the Ohio flag against the Statehouse flagpole, a sound which punctuated Tim Kettler’s opening eulogy:
“We will visit the office of Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Attorney General and ask why have they have permitted a system to exist that ignores election crimes, that allows private corporations to own and control our elections, and allows those most vulnerable and least heard, the poor and working poor, to be ignored once again.”
After the eulogies, the trumpets played, the pallbearers raised the casket, and the mourners followed the casket as it proceeded down E. Broad Street, past the Franklin County Board of Elections, the Secretary of State’s Office, and the Attorney General’s office.
The procession stopped in front of each of these offices, the trumpets played, the casket was displayed, and death certificates were hand-delivered to representatives of these offices. The certificates read, in part:
By the authority of
We the People
Ohio Voters Hereby Declare
Democracy, Honest Elections, and the Rule of Law
Having deceased November 2, 2004
Although each office was notified in advance, only representatives of the Attorney General’s office met with the group and accepted the death certificate to deliver to Attorney General Marc Dann.
We appreciate their recognition of the great loss to our state, our nation, and the world on this day, the third anniversary of an election so flawed that for the first time in U.S. history, an entire state’s Electoral College votes were challenged.
We especially appreciate the many well-wishers we met along the way of our procession and those who joined us from the public and the media.
We invited them, as we invite all readers of this account, to attend the upcoming Community Leader’s Forum on outstanding election justice issues. It will be held next Sunday, November 11, 2007, 12:45 p.m., at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road, Columbus, Ohio.
For more information and to donate:
http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/OEJC