Vote Fraud Scandals of 2004
Americans should look to the Ukraine for inspiration
| This article originally appeared in the Brown Daily Herald (Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.) |
by Darin Ranahan
Victory in Ukraine! I'm not talking about the election -- that was a complete failure. What I mean by victory is the fact that the outcry of Ukrainians over the rigged elections has actually sparked the possibility of change.At the time of this writing, the Ukrainian election commission had ruled that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich won, despite the Parliament's rejection of the election results.
Nevertheless, why is Ukraine's opposition so different from that in America? Why can they elicit a response from their government while our government ignores and brushes aside our voice?
First off, I admit, the nature of the election fraud in Ukraine was slightly cruder than that of the election fraud in this year's U.S. election. Instead of hordes of intimidating vote checkers at the polls and unaccountable electronic voting machines, the Ukrainian opposition encountered more old-fashioned modes of election fraud, such as casting multiple votes and hordes of intimidating peacekeepers, i.e. thugs.
Next, the media. The American media has widely covered suggestions of fraud in Ukraine, while barely skirting over similar allegations at home.
None of the major news outlets have investigated the possibility of large-scale election fraud in the form of Diebold electronic voting machines. Similarly, the mainstream media only cursorily investigated the disenfranchisement of African-American voters in Florida in the 2000 election. These sorts of issues, which merit front-page status at home, instead receive more coverage in the foreign press.
Next, the political parties. The opposition in Ukraine has refused to concede and is in fact at the forefront of claims about election fraud. I wish the Democrats had the spine to challenge election fraud here. Instead, the Green Party and non-profits like Black Box Voting (www.blackboxvoting.org) pick up the slack.
But the most important lessons we can learn from Ukraine are from its citizens, because unless you hold political office or an influential post in the media, you are in the same boat as them.
The Ukrainian people have persistently taken to the streets over the past week with a degree of vehemence rarely seen in American political efforts, raising fears of violence, unrest and even civil war in Ukraine. It is precisely the perception of this threat that has given clout to the movement to hold another election.
In general, America's progressive community accepts the doctrine of nonviolence as an unquestionable truth. I wholeheartedly agree violence is the most horrible thing that human beings are capable of. However, in recent years we have not exercised any alternative ways to effectively threaten the establishment.
How else is it that when over 100,000 (demonstrators estimated 400,000) people marched on New York City in February 2003 to protest the impending Iraq war, President Bush was able to dismiss it as a "focus group" that had no bearing on how he should lead the country? Does he understand how a focus group works?
The potential for violence is the least desirable, most primitive way of achieving what is necessary -- that is, for conservatives to perceive us as a threat. Right now the Democrats have no sway precisely because they are not considered a threat -- as a party, their stances have become too watered down while their power at the national level has dwindled.
To a certain extent, I don't blame them. The Democrats are a political party whose only objective is reelection and whose greatest fear is alienation of potential voters. The fundamentalists in this country don't need to compromise because the repercussions for not compromising are limited at best.
Thus it is up to us to make our voices heard. Be a threat. Not with violence, but with expression of who we are and what we believe. Voice your dissatisfaction daily, offend conservative values, say the things that Democrats as a party are too afraid to say.
Conservatives have no reason to compromise if we don't use the tools that make us a threat: boycotts, protests, sit-ins, organization, education and general unrest.
Whatever you do, don't rely on institutions like the mainstream media or major political parties to represent you. Compromising ourselves to fit in line with the moderate positions and tactics of the Democratic party, that once was supposed to represent progressive viewpoints, only cripples the issues that we believe in.
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Darin Ranahan is a student at Brown University, America's top Ivy League educational institution.
| Also see:
Green Party Candidate David Cobb on the Ohio Recount
The most important exit poll data, analyzed
National Voting Rights Institute
Long list of vote fraud reports
From last week -- Green & Libertarian Presidential Candidates to Demand Ohio Recount
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