Today, the Ohio Secretary of State finally released totals for the presidential recount. Bush gained 1,037 votes; Kerry gained 1,213 votes; Peroutka gained 33 votes; and Badnarik lost 19 votes, according to the Secretary of State.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s webpage labels Badnarik and Peroutka (the only non-major party presidential candidates to appear on the ballot) as “non-partisan” candidates, even though both of them appeared on the ballot as “other-party nominee.” Ohio election law requires the label “other-party nominee” for those candidates who choose it, if they use the independent petition procedure. Nothing in the Ohio law authorizes the Secretary of State to label such candidates “non-partisan,” as he has done on his web page. Complaints to his office about the label have gone unreturned.
Michael Badnarik was the only candidate to lose votes in the Ohio recount. Maybe it was a mistake for him to ask for the recount in the first place.
According to the amended Certificate of Ascertainment, David Cobb gained six votes, Richard Parker gained one vote, and Thomas Zych gained one vote.
I live in OH. Ken Blackwell is our problem and we have to live with him. Hopefully we are not so stupid that we inadvertanly elect him governor.
Badnarik is a clown.
I’m happy he lost votes.
reply to Gene:
Badnarik didn’t know he would lose votes before he asked for the recount.
You remember how Micheal Badnarik and David Cobb were arrested. Maybe there is a way independent and third-party presidential candidates can debate on national television. The Trick! In the 2008 elections, the Reform, Libertarian, Green, and Constitutionalisist Parties could hire a non-partisan board to act as the Comissioners of and host third party presidential debates on an entirely seperate popular cable TV station from the stations that the major parties are broadcasting their debates on. It would be different from the major party debates in that the third party and independent Pres. candidates would be able to speak directly to one another. This would be a big change from the luek-warm CPD hosted debates of the two major party candidates. It could be almost like real life TV. It would put a new spin on the televised Presidential Debates whose # of veiwers has been rapidly declining over the past few decades. Can you all imagine election 2008 Ralph Nader going toe-to-toe with Micheal Badnarik. They could even show the third party debates at the exact same time as the normal debates so as to draw attention away from the two-party system. These debates won’t even have to be broadcasted from a media channel.