Liberal whine...

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143510,00.html

Senator to Object to Electoral College Results
Thursday, January 06, 2005

WASHINGTON — Sen. Barbara Boxer (search), D-Calif., will contest the results of the Electoral College that will give President Bush a second term. A joint session of Congress is set to meet on the matter at 1 p.m. EST Thursday.

Boxer's decision follows a similar one by several Democratic House members. With Boxer's challenge, congressional rules stipulate that senators and representatives must recess to their respective chambers to debate certification.

The action would be the first of its kind in 36 years, but probably will amount to no more than a procedural delay of the inevitable.

Boxer sent a letter to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (search), one of the House Democrats set to challenge the results, saying that she was "moved" by Jones' concerns about reported election irregularities in Ohio.

"I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer said in the letter.

Boxer is scheduled to hold a news conference at noon, an hour before the House and Senate were to meet.


According to the choreography of the certification, after the House is called to order and the senators arrive from their chamber, the joint session begins with Vice President Dick Cheney (search) leading the activities.

The "certificates of vote" from each state will be called out and the number of votes designated for president and vice president will be reported on four separate paper tallies.

At the end of the reading of all 50 states and the District of Columbia's votes, the four tellers responsible for recording the tallies will compare results and sign off on them. Cheney will then announce the totals and order them into the record.

However, as was also the case in 2001, when more than two dozen Democrats objected to the certification of Florida's disputed election, a new objection is expected this time.

Besides Jones, at least two other House Democrats — Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois and John Conyers of Michigan — are expected to object to the certification of Ohio's 20 Electoral College votes for Bush, alleging voting irregularities in the decisive swing state.

Because Boxer will offer an objection, the House and Senate must then withdraw to their chambers so each body can discuss objections made on each state's certification.

The discussion can last up to two hours for each objection, after which time each chamber votes separately on them.

The two bodies would then return to the joint session to report their respective actions on the objections.

Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said charges made about Ohio’s election are “wild, incoherent and completely unsubstantiated

“If Ohio’s electors are challenged, I think it will be a sad day for the United States Congress. I can hardly believe that this could happen on the floor of the United States Senate. All objective observers in Ohio know that President Bush carried the state of Ohio. Even John Kerry’s Ohio lawyer stated such this week," DeWine said, referring to a report in the Columbus Dispatch quoting Kerry-Edwards attorney Daniel J. Hoffheimer.

Boxer and several other senators had been approached by House Democrats to launch the corresponding objection from the Senate that would force the recess of the joint session.

According to informed sources, House Democrats also approached newly elected Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (search) to join the objection. Those sources said Obama has no plans to do so.

Sen. John Kerry (search), who lost the election to Bush and is currently overseas, said in a letter sent to supporters Wednesday he would not take part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors because, despite widespread reports of voting irregularities, his legal team had "found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election."

Kerry said he planned to introduce election-reform legislation and push for congressional hearings on the voting irregularities.

Asked about the political wisdom of deciding to join House members in contesting the results, an aide to Boxer aide told FOX News, "These are credible folks in the House who say there are real problems out there. They need to shine the light on this. So they made an appeal to the senator for the right to shine the light on it.

"There are folks who think this is a not a fruitful exercise, because even [if] the results are challenged, it still may not change the outcome," the aide added, "but for two hours, this might at least be worth discussing."

Republicans say Boxer and a handful of House left-wingers are grand-standing. One Democratic leadership source also criticized Boxer, suggesting, "It would not be preferable for her to object."

FOX News' Carl Cameron, Julie Asher and Jim Mills and The Associated Press contributed to this report.