Judge slows Ohio recount

Published November 24, 2004 3:25PM (EST)

A federal judge in Ohio today delayed the requested recount of votes that was to scheduled to take place in the Buckeye state. A pair of third-party candidates, the Green Party's and Libertarian Michael Badnarik, who raised more than $150,000 to cover the state's fee for the second tally, demanded the recount. President Bush won Ohio by 136,000 votes, according to the unofficial count, although that did not include more than 100,000 provisional ballots that have yet to be tallied. Critics of the Ohio voting process claim the state was riddled with problems, including polling place lines that stretched on for hours.

According to the Associate Press, the Ohio recount will come, but only after state officals declares a winner: "Judge James G. Carr in Toledo ruled that the candidates have a right under Ohio law to a recount, but said it can wait. The judge wrote that he saw no reason to interfere with the final stages of Ohio's electoral process. Officials have said the results will be certified by Dec. 6. The [recount] lawsuit. had asked Carr to issue an order requiring Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to immediately begin statewide recount of Nov. 2 voting results. "


By Eric Boehlert

Eric Boehlert, a former senior writer for Salon, is the author of "Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush."

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