Kendrick Meek: “Ohio was granted an opportunity today not afforded to my home state of Florida in 2000, and for that I am thankful. I…”

“Ohio was granted an opportunity today not afforded to my home state of Florida in 2000, and for that I am thankful. I express my gratitude to Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio and Senator Barbara Boxer of California for raising this objection, but I feel that we must now move past the documented voting irregularities that plagued the State of Ohio. The purpose of this objection is not to change the outcome of the 2004 Presidential election, but to raise awareness to the difficulty faced by thousands attempting to cast their ballots for President in Ohio. Following the 2000 election, the people of America were promised sweeping electoral reforms aimed at preventing problems like those that happened in 2000, but those promises were only partially kept. This body let the voters of this country down, and we simply need more reform. There is still too much room for error in our election law and we must be earnest in addressing these lapses. We know that elections are not perfect, but no American should be castigated for raising questions or concerns when valid voting problems arise.”