Congressional Forum on Vote Irregularities

The press today was widely not reporting the plans of House Democrats in Washington to hold a Congressional forum on irregularities in the 2004 election, with particular emphasis on Ohio. The details are available at a crazy fringe weblog, BradBlog, which has been promulgating highly plausible wacko conspiracy theories for weeks. While you will evidently not find this kind of unreliable information in the New York Times, CNN, or other media, it seems that these rumors refuse to die. They continue to be spread by shoot-from-the-hip weblogs, such as this one maintained by "The House of Representatives of the United States." Here is an excerpt from the press advisory, written by members of a loose-knit cabal of irresponsible conspiracy theorists called "The Judiciary Committee":

PRESS ADVISORY Congressman John Conyers, Jr. Fourteenth District, Michigan Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary Dean, Congressional Black Caucus ------------FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 3, 2004 CONTACT: Dena Graziano (202) 226-6888 CONYERS AND OTHER CONGRESSMEN TO HOLD FORUM ON VOTING IRREGULARITIES IN OHIO Rep. John Conyers, Jr. and other Representatives will be holding the first congressional forum on election irregularities in Ohio, the pivotal state in the presidential election. The forum will include leading advocates, election experts and investigators who have reviewed the myriad of election day and recount problems in Ohio, as well as numerous individuals who experienced problems and outright disenfranchisement on election day. Among other things, the forum, which is open to the public, will concentrate on many of the issues raised in letters from Ranking Member Conyers and other Members to Kenneth Blackwell (http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohblackwellltr12204.pdf). WHAT: "Preserving Democracy - What went wrong in Ohio?" WHEN: Wednesday, December 8th @ 10:00am WHERE: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. WHO: Rep. John Conyers, Jr. Rep. Melvin Watt Rep. Robert Scott Rev. Jesse Jackson, Founder Rainbow Push Coalition Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State (invited) Ralph Neas, President, People For the American Way Jon Greenbaum, Director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights Under Law Ellie Smeal, Executive Director, The Feminist Majority Warren Mitofsky, Mitofsky International, Coordinator of National Exit Poll (invited) Prof. Robert Fitrakis, Editor, The Free Press Cliff Arnebeck, Arnebeck Associates John Bonifaz, General Counsel, National Voting Institute Steve Rosenfeld, Producer, Air America Radio Shawnta Walcott, Communications Director, Zogby International ##JUD-108-12/3/04##