WASHINGTON -- December 23 -- Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb said today that Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has refused to answer questions about the recount process and about a multitude of problems with the underlying presidential election in Ohio."Mr. Blackwell's conduct is insulting and inexcusable. He has refused to answer clarifying questions about the recount process and has also refused to answer questions posed to him in writing by a number of members of Congress," said Cobb.

Cobb had previously called for Blackwell's recusal from the recount process, citing Blackwell's conflict of interest by serving simultaneously as a co-chair for the Bush campaign in Ohio and as the state official responsible for overseeing the election. Reverend Jesse Jackson, Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and a number of citizens' organizations have joined Cobb's demand for Blackwell's recusal."Given Mr. Blackwell's lack of cooperation and the problems which have plagued the recount, we have to wonder whether he is an incompetent elections administrator or whether he is deliberately obstructing the recount process. It is very clear that he has a conflict of interest and should have stepped aside weeks ago," said Cobb.

Cobb's legal team had sent Mr. Blackwell a letter on December 7 requesting clarification on a number of points about the recount process. Mr. Blackwell never replied. Representative John Conyers and eleven other members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent Mr. Blackwell a letter on December 2, posing 36 questions to the Ohio Secretary of State concerning irregularities in the presidential election. Mr. Blackwell did not answer any of the questions. Representative Conyers stated in a subsequent letter to Mr. Blackwell that Blackwell's refusal to answer the questions is "part of a pattern of decisions that have worked to obstruct and stonewall a search for the truth about voting irregularities." General information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign and the Green Party can be found at http://www.votecobb.org. To see first hand reports from observers monitoring the county-by-county Ohio recount, see http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php.

###