We gather today in quest of democracy. It is a reasonable expectation to have an open free, fair transparent election that the standard that we apply for United States aide around the world. We want an even playing field…one set of rules...public rules enforced fairly...and the referee and the judge must not wear competing teams uniforms. They must be honest operatives and protect the integrity of the process, and fairly resolve disputes...

Our mission is one-person…one vote. The winner will be determined by votes and not entitlement. Our mission is to honor a standard wherein everybody matters and every vote counts. We want democracy by inclusion and not exclusion. Democracy by the count not by the clock...in democracy there is greater virtue in accuracy and fairness than time.

Republicans have engineered delays and disfranchisement schemes to determine the outcome of this election. With each investigative report the patterns of disfranchisement and voter suppression are increasingly embarrassing and humiliating. In a democracy you can afford to lose an election but not your franchise. All of this chaos is on the watch of the Governor George W. Bush's brother and their friend, and delegate and Electoral College voter, Mrs. Harris. Suspicions abound, if in Yugoslavia, Milosovic had the fewest votes but in the state where his brother was governor you had the determining vote and machinery of state broke down favoring his brother, it would be suspicious. We would not be inclined to certify that election. To look at Martin and Seminole Counties tainted ballots is to peer through a keyhole. When you open the door the violations are more sinister, painful, widespread and egregious.

There are four salient points that we have observed. First, the quantity of disfranchised voters, tens of thousands.

Secondly, the pattern of who was disfranchised-overwhelmingly black...Jewish senior citizens in West Palm Beach...immigrants...students....

Thirdly, the high stakes in the fraudulent activity...

Fourth, the civil rights issues.... the third rail of American politics... For whom you vote is political and private...your right to vote is sacred and legal.

The Department of Justice has not vigorously defended the third rail vote and protected it from abuse, intimidation, discount and disfranchisement schemes; they fought harder for Elian.

The third rail is not as large as the Republicans or Democrats. It is the most abused segment of our society. Yet it has the power to determine the direction and priorities of our nation. The soul of America is on trial. This is not about Philadelphia, PA where we were discounted and undercounted as 3/5ths of a citizen or human. This is about Selma where the wholeness of our vote and our humanity was affirmed.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act, Section 2 and the Fifteenth Amendment and the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment have been trampled upon very publicly without monitoring, investigation or testimony under oath. There are patterns of race targeting (voting while Black), intentional withholding of data after deadlines, misleading ballots and corruption.

Follow the map of disfranchised precincts, Liberty City, Broward, Belgrade, Fort Pierce, Riviera Beach, Fernandina, Orlando, Sanford, Coco Beach and Tampa.

For example, in West Palm the sample ballot was different from the real ballot. Mr. Bush looks at holocaust survivors who he knows chose not to vote for him.... they lost thousands of their votes by misleading and confusing ballots. While he ran on a theme of compassionate conservatism, leave no American behind, he says to holocaust survivors and Haitian language challenged rickety boat survivors...it may be machine error, your error, or ballot confusion ...we are not perfect...your pain, my gain, I am your leader...

West Palm thirty three thousand votes.... four thousand to Buchanan...nineteen thousand double punched.... ten thousand....

We would reject disregard for intent in elections around the world....

In Duval County twenty seven thousand ballots were thrown out...eighteen thousand inner city African American wards...and a six thousand undercount...Information was intentional withheld from Congresswoman Brown for three days exhausting the deadline (illegal).... All Republican judges.... the paper ballot different from the ballot in the booth...instructions misleading that were designed to affect the outcome.

This exclusion is in sharp contrast to the Republican National Convention stage show last summer...

Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Edward Waters students in Jacksonville, Bethune Cookman's students in Daytona Beach with registration cards in hand and there was no name at the poles or affidavits…they were turned away

A private firm with Republican ties was hired by Mrs. Harris to purge felons. Early in the year, the company, ChoicePoint gave Florida officials a list with the names of 8,000 ex-felons to "scrub" from their list of voters. But it turns out none on the list were guilty of felonies, only misdemeanors. The company acknowledged the error, and blamed it on the original source of the list - the state of Texas.

Florida officials moved to put those falsely accused by Texas back on voter rolls before the election. Nevertheless, the large number of errors uncovered in individual counties suggests that thousands of eligible voters may have been turned away at the polls.

Florida is the only state that pays a private company that promises to "cleanse" voter rolls. Secretary of State Harris approved in 1998 the $4 million contract with DBT online, since merged into ChoicePoint, of Atlanta. The creation of scrub list, called the central voter file, was mandated by a 1998 state voter fraud law, which followed a tumultuous year that saw Miami's mayor removed after voter fraud in the election, with dead people discovered to have cast ballots. The voter fraud law required all 67 counties to purge voter registries of duplicate registrations, deceased voters and felons, many of whom, but not all, are barred from voting in Florida.

The list invariably targets a minority population in Florida, where 31 percent of all black men cannot vote because of a ban of felons. In compiling a list by looking at felons from their states, Florida could in the process single out citizens who committed felons in other states but after serving their time or successfully petitioning the courts, had their voting rights returned to them. According to Florida law, felons can vote once their voting rights have been reinstated. This scheme unfairly singled out minorities, and it unfairly handicapped Gore. Ensnaring the innocent is profiling, stereotyping and humiliating.

Let military persons and vets vote count. Mr. Bush could have been one. Mr. Gore is one. Let students vote and holocaust survivors. Lets honor the intent of voters. Disenfranchisement schemes include: targeting with police checks, broken machines, tied up telephone lines and not enough affidavits.

Mrs. Harris wants to use strict rules and even arbitrary rulings in West Palm, Miami Dade, and Jacksonville and use the clock to discount the hand count and not count machine rejection in Miami....

In EEOC, gender and race bias cases, they say only intent matters. In voting, the Republicans argue that intent does not matter...

Governor Bush in Texas has confirmed that hand counting votes matters. In Florida, he has decided to choose the machines and not the hand count of people, which reflects the will, and desire of the people, which clearly shows accuracy.

The arrogance and contradiction of attacking the Florida Supreme Court as an incompetent, liberal activist court and seeking to discredit Judge Clark while speaking of reconciliation and healing is incompatible...

We are again at the cross roads with two teams and two dreams of America. One Tilden/Hayes race where the minority vote getter (Hayes)...Won with an electoral college deal...Tilden had the most votes.... Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida threw the election to Hayes.... the deal removed the federal troops of protection and left the most vulnerable exposed...

The civil rights and equal protection rail must not be dealt away by either party. Medgar Evers, Schwerner, Goodman, Cheney, Luizzio Jimmie Lee Jackson and Dr. King sacrifices must not be dealt away…

The team of Bush, Cheney, Trent Lott, Phil Graham, Tom Delay and Bob Barr are determined to reinforce State's rights and honor the confederate flag, support right to work laws.attempts to undermine organized labor.... reject Roe v Wade and a woman's right to self determination.... reject affirmative action...undermine EEOC.... environmental protection laws.... children's health insurance.... raise minimum wage…

We stand on democratic principles in the tradition of struggling workers...we are a coalition of conscience…Faith is our weapon. Just as Moses was surrounded with mountains on both sides, Pharaoh's army behind him and the Red Sea without a boat in front. of him...He held on to his faith...

Today we stand surrounded with Jeb Bush on one hand and Ms Harris on the other, George W and Cheney approaching from behind, the Supreme Court lurking above us...we will not surrender our hopes, our dreams and our votes....God will see us through....we have come this far by faith...Grace is sufficient...

Keep Hope Alive!