Kerry Refuses to Accept Defeat in State of Ohio Due to Provisional Ballots


The White House announced Wednesday that President George W. Bush is sure to succeed in the Tuesday election for another four-year term, while Democratic candidate John Kerry refused to accept his defeat until all ballots are counted in the State of Ohio.
We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election, White House chief of staff Andrew Card said, after confirming Bush’s victory in Nevada.

The State Department of Ohio informed that President Bush has led Kerry by 145,000 ballots which would be irrevocable statistically even though provisional ballots are put into consideration, Card said. About 175,000 provisional votes have remained outstanding with 93 percent of the votes cast counted, according to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

With 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, Bush had captured 254 electoral votes against 242 votes by Kerry, according to television projections.

Two TVs have forecast Bush would win in Ohio, which would give the president a clear win. Ohio has 20 electoral votes.

CBS said Bush will be reelected if his victory in Ohio is confirmed, regardless of the outcome in two other undecided states _ Iowa and New Mexico.

The vote counting in Ohio was suspended because of questions over provisional ballots. Kerry’s camp said it would wait until all the provisional ballots are counted.

The Democratic camp early Wednesday refused to concede defeat, insisting that 250,000 provisional and absentee ballots cast in Ohio might change the outcome.

Without Ohio, neither candidate can reach the magic 270 number. A 269-269 electoral tie would throw the race to the Republican-led House of Representatives, where Bush would be almost certain to win.

Under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, each state must provide standby ballots to voters if they cannot be found on registration lists, are in the wrong polling station, or don’t have proper identification but insist they are eligible to vote. Those people should be given provisional ballots that will be kept separately from others until their eligibility can be confirmed.