What Went Wrong In Ohio: The Conyers Report On The 2004 Presidential Election (Paperback)

~ Congressman John Conyers (Author), Anita Miller (Editor), Gore Vidal (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This fascinating and disturbing book is the official record of testimony taken by the Democratic Members and Staff of the House Judiciary Committee, presided over by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the Ranking Member. Originally published in January, 2005 by the Government Printing Office, it has been edited and re-designed for maximum readability. Both a riveting and alarming report on the status of our ailing presidential election process, this book provides new insights into the abuse and manipulation of electronic voting machines and the arbitrary and illegal behavior of a number of elected and election officials which effectively disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters in order to change the outcome of an election. The material in this report should be used as a guidebook to fixing our federal elections.

About the Author

Anita Miller, Editor

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (May 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089733535X
• ISBN-13: 978-0897335355
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #630,349 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pre-Emptive Assault on Democracy, May 16, 2005

By	J. Irmas (Encino, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rep. John Conyers's brave report on the massive irregularities in Ohio's 2004 Presidential Election signal a strong and urgent warning call for all concerned citizens. While Republicans in the House and Senate were quick to dismiss the report, saying that "There is no such thing as a perfect election," they failed to understand that ALL irregularities favored Bush. From under-equipped precincts in African-American communities, an illegal closure of a counting center in Warren County, and large-scale destruction of voter registration, "Preserving Democracy" makes it clear to all that no election remains secure as long as we allow this (...) to continue in our country.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's Something Rotten in the State of Ohio, September 26, 2006

By	!Edwin C. Pauzer (New York City) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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In his book "Armed Madhouse..." author Greg Palast quotes Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. "It's not the votes that count. It's who counts the votes." After you read the dry but factual 116 pages of this book, you will come to the inescapable conclusion that the election was stolen from presidential candidate John Kerry and given to Mr. Bush.

The book is divided into facts (what happened) and analysis (the motive and how it could have happened). It starts with Ohio's secretary of state, a republican, Kenneth Blackwell who promised to "fill in the blanks" regarding voting anomalies but has kept silent in the finest tradition of "political omerta." He has refused to initiate any investigations, and has tried his best to have the ballots destroyed.

Here's some of what Conyers uncovers:

Republican challengers were at every precinct causing massive voting delays. This is called caging, and it is illegal. Republican challengers targeted 97% of new voters in black areas. They only challenged 14% of new voters in white areas.

There were voting machine lockdowns preventing observation of ballot counts. This too is illegal.

There were flipped votes. Voters reported that they had voted for Kerry and watched their vote register for George Bush. These "glitches" were called "calibration problems."

The number of votes vs. voters. In many places the number of voter turn-out exceeded 100%. (?) In one case nearly 19,000 votes were added after all precincts reported.

There were repairs being made by the electronic voting machine company while the ballots were being recounted. This too is illegal.

In Ohio the exit polls which asked the people how they voted, showed that Kerry had won. Men and women voters gave a majority to Kerry. These polls are usually very accurate. So, how did exit polls that put Kerry ahead 52% to 48% turn around after the ballots were counted?

After reading this book, you can only arrive at one conclusion: There's something rotten in the state of Ohio.

Update: Blackwell ran for governor in Ohio this past November and was defeated. Those ballots he could not manage to hide.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wait for next year?, October 19, 2005

By	S. J. Haye "adit" (Ridgecrest, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rep. John Conyers, (D - Michigan, the ranking minority chair of the House Judiciary Committee, led eleven Democratic Congressman (Republicans boycotted this investigation) and their staffers into the swamp that was the 2004 Presidential election in Ohio. Conyers had come to answer an essential question -- What Went Wrong in Ohio? The investigation was conducted despite the difficulties caused by Bush (whose selection in 2000 led to an apology from Justice John Paul Stevens for the behavior of the 5 -4 majority of the Court in the matter of Bush v Gore) and of the Republican majority in Congress.
In the introduction, Gore Videl says that when asked who would win in `04, he said that Bush would lose again, but he was confident that in the four years between 2000 and 2004, creative propaganda and the fixing of elections might very well be perfected so as to ensure an official victory for Bush. As this report shows in great detail with very thorough documentation of sources, Ohio was carefully set up to deliver an apparent victory for Bush even though Kerry appears to be not only the popular winner but the Electoral College winner.
This report states categorically, "With regards to our factual findings, in brief, we find that there were massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio." These were caused by officials, chiefly Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell who was co-chair of the Bush - Cheny campaign in Ohio, and included deliberate misallocation of voting machines so that thousands or even hundreds of thousands of predominately minority and Democratic voters had to wait in long lines, or couldn't even vote, "cheat sheets" supplied to numerous counties to guide those counting the ballots so that Bush would have the proper number of votes to beat Kerry, denial of the right to observe the counting of ballots by impartial observers, illegally removing voters from the voting rolls, and other acts designed to ensure a Bush "win".
The outlook for 2008? To date,nothing has been done, either by Congress or the States, to clean up this mess. After all, those benefiting by the corruption are in charge. So, as things stand, expect a Republican "win" in 2008, regardless of who happens to be running.