Congress Certifies Bush's Win After Protest

Politics News Article | Reuters.com:

Thu Jan 6, 2005 06:01 PM ET
By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The U.S. Congress on Thursday formally certified President Bush as the victor of the November elections after two Democrats symbolically stalled the event in protest at alleged voting irregularities in Ohio.

California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, formally lodged objections because of Ohio, although they said they recognized Bush had won and were not trying to overturn the results.

They said their goal was to force lawmakers to heed problems that had been particularly evident in Democratic-leaning minority and urban neighborhoods and to consider the need for more voting reforms including standard election rules in all states.

'This objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning or challenging the victory of the president,' Tubbs Jones said. Boxer called it a matter of 'electoral justice.'