C-Span - Forum on the Ohio Vote in the 2004 Election

I have only enough time to point out what I felt were the significant outcomes of this meeting (I'll fill in more tonight) but here they are:

• Rev. Jessie Jackson (Panel One witness - Rainbow PUSH Coalition Founder and President) called for the congressional committee to go to Ohio to hold hearings on voter charges. John Conyers (Committee meeting chair, Rep. D-MI, Congressional Black Caucus) said they would.

• Cliff Arnebeck (Panel One witness - Common Cause Ohio, attorney) stated one of the two issues of concern was voting machine tampering and Conyers agreed hacking "...was a serious consideration."

• Mel Watt (Committee member, Rep. D-NC, Congressional Black Caucus) stated that it is hard to legislate (changes in voting laws) unless you make an official record and that "It would help us if we found an increasing amount of pressure applied on the formal process of hearing a formal hearing of the events in Ohio." In other words, they can get somewhere if citizens put pressure on the representatives to follow up.
  

• Bobby Scott (Committee member, Rep. D-VA , Congressional Black Caucus) stated that currently there are no checks and balances in Washington DC and that the Republicans have to be involved (which by their complete absence from this meeting indicated they are not). He further stated that "There can be no criminal investigations without the executive branch. All we can do is expose the problems."

For the wonks among you, it will be rebroadcast (the C-Span schedule is online) and the full text will be available on the House Judiciary Democratic website....

...details later.