Susan Truitt, Ohio election integrity activist, asks for our help

In November, 2004, the “epicenter of the world” was Ohio. That’s how the Reverend Jesse Jackson described it to the plaintiffs in the Ohio Supreme Court case, Moss v. Bush. I decided to keep the spotlight on Ohio and started scouring the country for recount observers and volunteer attorneys to help the Moss v. Bush legal team press its case against Bush, Cheney, Karl Rove and others. The goal was to keep George Bush from being elected president.

Susan Truitt was one of the four attorneys handling this monumental challenge to George Bush’s “win” in Ohio. We became acquainted and have maintained contact over the past three years.

Susan, who co-founded CASE Ohio, is still beating the drums for election integrity in Ohio. Karl Rove has targeted Ohio as one of the 11 key states in the 2008 election.

Below is Susan’s request asking us to help her challenge the ouster of a staunch election reform advocate, State Senator Teresa Fedor (Democrat, 11th Dist.), as Minority Leader of the Ohio Senate (photo).

We’re in it together, folks. If we don’t reach across state borders and support election integrity activists wherever they are, Karl Rove is likely to have his way.

Please heed Susan’s request for help.

Please WRITE - EMAIL - CALL Ohio Democratic Party Leaders

The Ohio Democratic Party has ousted staunch election reform advocate, State Senator Teresa Fedor, from her position as Minority Leader. Senator Fedor was sounding the alarm regarding the unsafe nature of touch screen voting machines (DREs) years before most people had ever heard of them. Her removal as the leader of the Democrats in the Ohio Legislature is a dramatic blow to the election reform movement in Ohio. She has worked tirelessly for years for election reform, first as a state representative and then as a state senator.

Among other things, Senator Fedor spearheaded the 2004 Joint Committee on Ballot Security, which, with the help of CASE Ohio members, prevented the purchase of any new DREs in Ohio prior to the 2004 election. She invited many computer experts, and others, to testify before the committee, educating not only the legislature, but also the public, about the dangers of DREs. She introduced and passed the bill requiring a paper trail for all voting machines. But she has not stopped there - she has continued to advocate for voting rights and voting reform for years.

She was also instrumental in exposing the Thomas Noe scandal in Lucas County (see Noe indicted for helping steal 2004), and the scandal of former Ohio Congressman Bob Ney, who, unfortunately, pushed through the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which has created the DRE nightmare.

Who is behind her removal from power and why? Who expressly and tacitly approved it?

Why, with only months to go before a presidential election, have the Dems removed from a leadership position the one legislator who has devoted herself to election reform? Especially in the key state of Ohio?

Is this move driven by those who do not buy into the grave nature of the election system in Ohio and in the entire U.S.? Is it more insidious than that? This move clearly indicates that there are Ohio Democrats in key leadership positions who are unaware of the dire situation regarding the unreliable, unverifiable, and untrustworthy DREs. To oust Senator Fedor as a party leader, after her years of devotion and unflagging work, is an abomination.

Who will lead the election reform charge, now?

Write, email, and call the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, ask him why Senator Fedor was removed as Minority Leader:

Chris Redfern
77 S. High St., 10th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 644-6011
Fax : (614) 719-6980
Email Address: district80@ohr.state.oh.us

Write, email, and call the Chief Legal Counsel for the Governor, Kent Markus, who also serves as the Chief of State-Legislative Relations, and ask him why Senator Fedor was removed as Minority Leader:

Kent Markus
Office of Governor Ted Strickland
77 South High Street, 30th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6117
Phone:(614) 466-3555
Fax:(614) 466-9354
Capitol Phone:(614) 466-2000
Email address: kmarkus@law.capital.edu

EVEN IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN OHIO - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ELECTION REFORM, Call, email, and write them now and demand some answers about why Senator Fedor has been punished for her years of exemplary service to the State of Ohio and to the issue of election reform.

Regards,

Susan Truitt








(photo of Sen. Fedor from her website; photo of Susan Truitt, Fairness by Beckerman)