On C-Span Today: LIVE 1:00 (est.) Joint Session of Congress Electoral College Ballot Count U.S. House of Representatives Richard Cheney, United States To watch it on the Internet, click here and then click the appropriate delivery method under “WATCH / LISTEN LIVE” in the right-hand column.

Harvey Wasserman, senior editor of freepress.org, speaks to the media about the lawsuit against President Bush on the presidential election results from the state of Ohio, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005, in Washington. Wasserman, along with 50 other people from Ohio have come to Washington to constitutionally challenge the election results of Ohio. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer sent the following letter to Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones on January 5, 2005 January 6, 2005 The Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones 1009 Longworth H.O.B. U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representative Tubbs Jones: I am in receipt of your letter that spelled out concerns about the election irregularities in Ohio during the November 2004 election. The fact that you are from Ohio and that you are a former judge gives great weight and much credibility to the points you cited and to your plea that these issues be addressed by the Congress. I was particularly moved by your point that it is virtually impossible to get official House consideration of the whole issue of election reform, including these irregularities. I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio’s election. I will therefore join you in your objection to the certification of Ohio’s electoral votes. Attached is my signature on a copy of your written objection. Sincerely, Barbara Boxer United States Senator

WASHINGTON -- A small group of Democrats agreed Thursday to force House and Senate debates on Election Day problems in Ohio before letting Congress certify President Bush's win over Sen. John Kerry in November.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., signed a challenge mounted by House Democrats to Ohio's 20 electoral votes, which put Bush over the top. By law, a challenge signed by members of the House and Senate requires both chambers to meet separately for up to two hours to consider it. Lawmakers are allowed to speak for no more than five minutes each.

While Bush's victory is not in jeopardy, the Democratic challenge will force Congress to interrupt tallying the Electoral College vote, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST Thursday. It would be only the second time since 1877 that the House and Senate were forced into separate meetings to consider electoral votes.

"I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer wrote in a letter to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, a leader of the Democratic effort. A group of Democrats hopes to train a national spotlight on claims of widespread Election Day problems in Ohio when Congress formally tallies the electoral votes that gave President Bush his re-election triumph.

In ceremony as old as the Constitution itself, the House and Senate were meeting in joint session Thursday to count the electoral votes, state by state in alphabetical order. Vice President Dick Cheney was presiding in his role as president of the Senate, overseeing as each state's votes are withdrawn from mahogany boxes and totaled.

"We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election," said a report issued Wednesday by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Even so, the effort seems certain to leave Bush's victory intact because both Republican-run chambers would have to uphold the challenge for Ohio's votes to be invalidated.

Underscoring that the outcome was not in doubt, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who conceded to Bush the day after the Nov. 2 election, said he would not join the challenge. Instead, he was in the Middle East, thanking U.S. troops for their service.

In a statement, Kerry said there are "very troubling questions" about the Ohio voting and said he will present a plan later to improve voting procedures.

Many Democrats oppose challenging the Ohio vote, worrying it would do little but antagonize voters who consider the election over. The numbers are also politically daunting: Bush won an Ohio recount by over 118,000 votes, and won nationally by more than 3 million.

In January 2001, a group of House Democrats protested the 2000 elections because of Florida's ballot problems.

But with the country weary of that contest's six weeks of recounts and turmoil, no senator joined in and the challenge failed. In political theater at its most ironic, Vice President Al Gore -- the defeated Democratic presidential contender -- presided over the session, rejecting a challenge aimed at making him president.

The last time the two chambers were forced to interrupt their joint session and meet separately was in January 1969, when a "faithless" North Carolina elector designated for Richard Nixon voted instead for independent George Wallace. Both chambers agreed to allow the vote for Wallace.

The previous challenge requiring separate House and Senate meetings was in 1877 during the disputed contest that Rutherford Hayes eventually won over Samuel Tilden.

Bush defeated Kerry by 286 to 252 electoral votes, with 270 needed for victory.

Conyers' report, mirroring complaints from Ohio voters, cites machine shortages and extremely long lines in minority and Democratic precincts. It alleges intimidation of voters, a purging of registration lists and other problems.

Many problems stemmed from "intentional misconduct and illegal behavior" by Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio, the report said.

Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo called the report "ludicrous" and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

© Copyright 2004 Associated Press

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