Reading through the letters, one would think the article "Back to Ohio: Prosecutor says 2004 recount was 'rigged' " was titled "Back to Florida..."

Ohio's problems were multi-faceted. They involved the collaboration of many devious minds, incompetence, partisanship, ignorance, and the compliance of people who should have known better but who didn't question the system.

WHAT HAPPENED IN OHIO: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election, by Fitrakis, Rosenfeld and Wasserman lays out a lot of what we know happened. Other groups also conducted research and developed reports. Hearings were held. In fact, Ohio is probably the most investigated state as far as election irreglarities in modern times. Despite all of that, we will probably never know each and every trick played, unfortuntely.

Yes, there is evidence of hacking of the machines and/or the counting systems, notably in an analysis of other votes recorded on the same ballots. For instance, polling places with heavily conservative religious voters voted both FOR BUSH and FOR GAY MARRAIGE and ultra liberal precincts showed heavy Bush votes when the exit polls showed the complete opposite.

But election officials also withheld machines from polling places (where they already knew there were thousands of new voter registrations) causing the ones in use to break down by overuse. (I didn't say they didn't ADD more machines--they actually reduced the numbers of machines these polling places previously had.) And replacements often weren't delivered until late in the afternoon. At the same time, they provided too many machines in heavily Republican polling places.

People stood in line in the cold rain - outside - at many polling places, and some were harassed by police telling them they had to leave the lines to move their illegally parked cars, when there were only limited numbers of legal spaces. They waited for hours in one line only to find out they needed to be in another line (or even in another building!)--and sent to the back of it, sometimes more than once. Ex-felons (who could legally vote in Ohio upon release from prison, probation or parole) received mailings and phone calls confusing them, and even threatening them with "jail" if they tried to vote.

Long-time voters were removed for no reason from the voting rolls without their knowledge and were challenged when they showed up to vote. Thus, they not only had to spend more time waiting in lines, but the provisional ballots they were required to complete often weren't counted.

People who applied for absentee ballots didn't receive them and, when they went to the polls to vote, they were told they had already voted absentee.

New registrations weren't processed in time to get on the books. Others found their names weren't on the rolls because some election jurisdictions were using oudated lists (some 6 months old!) provided by the Secretary of State's office.

Kenneth Blackwell sent out confusing and sometimes contradictory directives to the local election boards in the months prior to the elections. But things got so bad that even Blackwell stepped in and fired officials at one county election office---including Bernadette Ney (wife of convicted Congressman Ney).

Confusing and inaccurate TV commercials and press announcements from Blackwell's office resulted in people not understanding how they were supposed to register (even what kind of paper the registrations should be one!) and where they were supposed to vote. In a subsequent hearing during which Blackwell was questioned, he was smug and non-apologetic! The man is a criminal and should be in jail. Thank heaven he didn't get elected to the governorship of Ohio!

These are only SOME of the myriad of techniques used in Ohio to stifle the Democrat vote and insure an electoral vote for Bush---and another stolen election. The examples are documented by material obtained through FOIA requests, court documents, professional researchers, and affidavits completed by affected voters and witnesses. They are not rumor or speculation! As one voter who TRIED to volunteer in Ohio but received no affirmative response form the DNC, I sat here horrified at what I heard and saw happening in Ohio that day!

As a footnote: Kerry has no business even considering another run for the presidency. He gave up too fast. And, in doing so, he simply added a final obstacle to dumping Bush/Cheney and the mob, and gave a huge slap in the face to those thousands upon thousands of voters in Ohio who stood in line for hours and hours, lost time from work or school, and who bravely faced the challenges to their right to vote. I applaud this one small attempt to bring light to the 2004 recount in those election jurisdictions. It's a small step, but it's a step forward!

Each of the techniques outlined in my letter resulted in small or significant numbers of lost votes for Kerry. None in and of themselves provided the single majority to place Ohio's electoral votes in the Democrat column. But, added together, they did.

One could say the Ohio was a comedy of errors...a Keystone Kops show. That may have come into play, but I believe it was a well-orchestrated, multi-faceted plan concocted well in advance of the 2004 election.

Given that, we need to study these issues (WHAT HAPPENED IN OHIO? isn't easy reading, nor are most of the other reports) and come up with a counterplan in every state that may be targetted for another stolen election in 2008. Karl Rove isn't gone, folks. He's out there still doing his dirty work!