and the former republican secretary of state of ohio. in 2004, he oversaw the election process for the state of ohio in the state while serving as co- chair of the committee to reelect george w. bush in ohio. his role in the ohio election which saw george w. bush narrowly defeat john kerry remains controversial to this day. blackwell was the target of over a dozen lawsuits over his handling of the 2004 election. on monday, "democracy now!" senior producer mike burke frantic blackwell in the halls of the republic national convention. he began by asking ken blackwell about the state of voting rights in the country. >> the past 40 years, we concentrated on making sure the franchise was not impeded by onerous regulation and unfair process thees. in the last six years, we have looked at the other voting rights, which is the right to make sure legal ballots are not ballots.a gated by fraudulent i think we have struck a good balance between those. >> how much of a problem is fraudulent voting? >> we have enough evidence there are folks who deli

in the state of ohio. now, one of his fellow republicans is coming clean about the real reason they're suppressing the vote. it's in franklin county. franklin county's republican election commissioner doug price wrote this in an e-mail to the newspaper, the columbus dispatch. he wrote, we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read african-american -- voter turnout machine. those are his words, according to the columbus dispatch. urban read african-american? when the reporter asked the commissioner price if that's unfair, he used a word we can't say on the air or broadcast, price told the paper, quote me, you can quote me on that. cursing doesn't change the fact that cutting poll hours is unfair to working families and working americans. here's why. there's new research out this weekend that shows just how many people depend on expanded voting hours. for instance, in the last election, 47% of ohioans cast ballots during nonbusiness hours. voters cast almost 200,000 ballots during

in the state of ohio. now, one of his fellow republicans is coming clean about the real reason they're suppressing the vote. it's in franklin county. franklin county's republican election commissioner doug price wrote this in an e-mail to the newspaper, the columbus dispatch. he wrote, we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read african-american -- voter turnout machine. those are his words, according to the columbus dispatch. when a reporter asked the commissioner price if that's unfair, he used a word we can't say on the air or broadcast, price told the paper, quote me, you can quote me on that. cursing doesn't change the fact that cutting poll hours is unfair to working families and working americans. here's why. there's new research out this weekend that shows just how many people depend on expanded voting hours. for instance, in the last election, 47% of ohioans cast ballots during nonbusiness hours. voters cast almost 200,000 ballots in the exact days and hours the republ

slashing those out -- what is the cost of the state of ohio returning to the debacle of 2004? yes, there will be a cost to holding clean and fair elections, but that is a cost worth paying. it is absolutely outrageous that in the 21st century, 2008, that we would have elected officials trying to suppress the vote in this state, particularly of working class people. and ed, i will tell you that in cuyahoga county in 2008, 56% of the early in-person voting were by african-americans, so you tell me what's going on here. call it what it is. >> well, you are doing just that, and it's a very interesting statistic you point out there, but if it's that intense and severe, could this not throw the state for mitt romney, could this have that big of an impact, senator? >> it could have that kind of impact, ed, but i want to encourage the folks in ohio and your other viewers across the country not to be sidelined and sidetracked by the foolishness. you know, my republican colleagues are stuck on stupid and dazzled by dumb, but the people in the state and in this country make sure they kno

>> well, i am not there in the state of ohio. but this is my beef with what is going on. don't say we need to have everyone the same as the military -- what you are asking the military to do is above and beyond what everyone else is doing -- >> greta: let me just say -- >> that premise -- [overlapping dialogue] >> greta: i don't want -- i know their sacrifice. i know you know it deeper than i do. have you made the sacrifice. but i have had a chance to visit the bases, which is know the same as making the sacrifice -- don't get me wrong. i have been to afghanistan. i have seen the incredible crifice. i would do everything so they can have the vote, the members of the military. i am just saying that there are other people, if key can, why not give them the chance to vote as well? >> if we are saying, greta, that people here in the united states of america cannot take advantage of early voting, cannot take advantage of absentee ballots, we are talking about, i think it's more of an apathy than anything else. just extending these three days is not going to correct that. so on

what is the cost of the state of ohio returning to the debacle of 2004? yes, there will be a cost to holding clean and fair elections, but that is a cost worth paying. it is absolutely outrageous that in the 21st century, 2008, that we would have elected officials trying to suppress the vote in this state, particularly of working class people. and ed, i will tell you in cuyahoga county in 2008, 56% of the early in-person voting were african-americans. you tell me what's going on here. call it what it is. >> well, you are doing just that, and it's very interesting statistic you point out there, but if it's that intense and severe, could this not throw the state for mitt romney, could this have that big of an impact, senator? >> it could have that kind of impact, ed, but i want to encourage folks in ohio and other viewers across the country not to be sidelined and sidetracked by the foolishness. my republican colleagues are stuck on stupid and dazzled by dumb, but the people in the state and country make sure to know the rules of engagement in their state w

we asked the secretary of state of the great state of ohio to join us to discuss what it is he thinks he is doing with the county-by-county voting rules in the state of ohio. we've not been able to secure his agreement for an interview, but we, you know, live in hope. >>> do you remember when r.i.m.r.i.m mitt romney's pitch to be president was all about the economy? what are your thoughts about anything but the economy? there is nothing but the economy. that's all i want to talk about. that was the way it was for a long time, but that changed now and the quantitative empirical data that shows how it changed is kind of nuts. and we've got that next. we're laying that out. >>> plus, later on, the best new thing in the world comes with extra screaming with joy at your television. please stay with us. >>> if there's one group of americans with which everyone agrees, we cannot mess with, it is our veterans. a nonpartisan agreement across the country except apparently for one small highly visited well funded part of our country. that story is coming up. sometimes, i feel like it's me agains

gamble. >> an avalanche of dirty money is pouring into the state of ohio to take out senator sherrod brown. tonight, the senator tells me how todd akin, medicare, and voter suppression are moving the polls in the buckeye state. >>> and director spike lee says republicans are doing the wrong thing. >> everything that's happening now is really, i think, a plan to stop barack hussein obama from getting a second term. >> tonight, my exclusive interview with spike lee. >> thanks for watching. another day at the office with the mittster. today, mitt romney reignited the fringe, those in his party who don't see president obama as a legitimate president of the united states. here's romney in commerce, michigan, today. >> i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised, where both of us were born. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born at harper hospital. no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know this is the place that we were born and raised. >> afterwards, the romney campaign offered a very weak explanation. romney senior adviser kevin madden said the g

>> well, i am not there in the state of ohio. but this is my beef with what is going on. don't say we need to have everyone the same as the military -- what you are asking the military to do is above and beyond what everyone else is doing -- >> greta: let me just say -- >> that premise -- [overlapping dialogue] >> greta: i don't want -- i know their sacrifice. i know you know it deeper than i do. have you made the sacrifice. but i have had a chance to visit the bases, which is know the same as making the sacrifice -- don't get me wrong. i have been to afghanistan. i have seen the incredible sacrifice. i would do everything so they can have the vote, the members of the military. i am just saying that there are other people, if key can, why not give them the chance to vote as well? >> if we are saying, greta, that people here in the united states of america cannot take advantage of early voting, cannot take advantage of absentee ballots, we are talking about, i think it's more of an apathy than anything else. just extending these three days is not going to correct that. so

what is the cost of the state of ohio returning to the debacle of 2004? yes, there will be a cost to holding clean and fair elections, but that is a cost worth paying. it is absolutely outrageous that in the 21st century, 2008, that we would have elected officials trying to suppress the vote in this state, particularly of working class people. and ed, i will tell you in cayahunga county in 2008, 60% of the early voting were african-americans. call it what it is. >> well, you are doing just that, and it's very interesting statistic you point out there, but if it's that intense and severe, could this not throw the state for mitt romney, could this have that big of an impact, senator? >> it could have that kind of impact, ed, but i want to encourage folks in ohio and other viewers across the country not to be sidelined and sidetracked by the foolishness. my republican colleagues are stuck on stupid and dazzled by dumb, but the people in the state and country make sure to know the rules when it comes to voting and get out and vote. >> i got to mention, it's f

the state of ohio. >> the united states constitution and the ohio constitution. >> and part of that is to follow the directives issued by the secretary of state, correct? >> correct, which i believe i did. and still to this day believe i followed that directive. >> that directive which did not have instructions about weekends. thanks to the ohio capitol blog which is really slept for providing the tape from that hearing today. thomas richie and dennis lieberman, both democrats who between them have more than 27 years of experience on their county elections board, they could be fired by the end of this week. for voting to expand voting hours for the residents of their county. they're going to be joining us live for the interview next. you know why i sell tools? tools are uncomplicated. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping's easy. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that's not complicated.

the state of ohio. >> the united states constitution and the ohio constitution. >> and part of that is to follow the directives issued by the secretary of state, correct? >> correct, which i believe i did. and still to this day believe i followed that directive. >> that directive which did not have instructions about weekends. thanks to the ohio capitol blog which is really slept for providing the tape from that hearing today. thomas richie and dennis lieberman, both democrats who between them have more than 27 years of experience on their county elections board, they could be fired by the end of this week. for voting to expand voting hours for the residents of their county. they're going to be joining us live for the interview next. i stepped on the machine, and it showed me the pressure points on my feet and exactly where i needed more support. then, i got my number. my tired, achy feet affected my whole life. until i found my number. i tried the free dr. scholl's foot mapping center. in two minutes, i got my foot map and custom number. i'm a 440. that matched up to the dr. scholl

so it's not difficult to vote in the state of ohio. alisyn: captain, can you share with us some of the challenges that our military servicemen and women have to go through in voting? >> sure. every unit that's field has men and women from states across the country. every state has different rules about what you can and cannot do, what you have to send and and when you have to send it in and when ballots are due. i was a voting assistance officer in guantanamo bay. and my job was to help my guys navigate that maze. because of the great work of states like ohio made it easier for folks to access the ballots. what ticks me off is the argument the obama admin station is making with arbitrary and without justification to treat the military differently. i don't see ieds or snipers shooting at our polling places. so to sort of try to make that argument, say they are being treated unequally is just to me below board. and i would like to see and i hope these military groups get this overturned. alisyn: you can hear the outrage from the captain

we asked the secretary of state of the great state of ohio to join us to discuss what it is he thinks he is doing with the county by county voting rules in the state and we have not been able to secure his agreement for an interview, but we live in hope. do you remember when mitt romney's pitch to be president was all about the economy? what are your thoughts about anything but the economy? there is nothing but the economy. that's all i want to talk about. that was the way it was for a long time, but that changed now and the quantitative empirical data that shows how it changed is kind of nuts. we have that next. plus later on, the best new thing in the world comes with extra screaming with joy at your television. stay with us. the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. giv

this is united states of america. this is the state of ohio. we relish in folks having the ability to vote and why should it be suppressed in the state of ohio? again, it is not by happenstance this is happening. nobody should have to beg to vote. what's going on in ohio. in cuyahoga county in particular, about 56% of african-americans who live in this county voted early in person, 56%. what does that tell you? they might as well bring back literacy test and the poll tax to keep this up in the state of ohio. >> i want to mention you mentioned the 2004 election and a lot of ohioans left waiting in long lines and unable to vote by the time the polls closed. we did reach out to the secretary of state there in ohio. but he did not get back to us. thank you so much for joining us today. >> thanks, deb. >>> well, in the middle of the civil war you don't think about lights at an intersection. you worry about gun fire. >> he's saying you want to go back and drive fast through the intersection because there's a sniper. he said, get down. >> get down. >>

. >>> the state of ohio has 88 counties. this right here is a county map of ohio. you can pause your tv if you wish and count them all up. but i promise you, ohio has 88 counties. and each one of the 88 counties in ohio has its own board of elections. the board of elections in your county is the thing that runs your local elections, where you can vote and when you vote. they report the election results to the state. they do all that stuff. because they deal with something as sensitive and important as voting, the county election boards in ohio are equally divided in partisan terms. each board has two democrats and two republicans. in 2004, the state of ohio of course became the poster child for election day chaos and long lines to vote. one of the things these county election boards are considering right now is how exactly ohio counties this year are going to handle the issue of early voting. early voting for this year's presidential election. right now in traditionally republican counties like warren county, ohio, for example, which went overwhelmingly for john mc

what do you do if you have a tie on your election board in the great state of ohio? the secretary of state comes in and breaks the tie. ohio has a republican secretary of state and he has been stepping in in all of the democratic counties where there's a tie and he's siding with the republicans there, saying actually, i'm with the republicans. we're not going to expand early voting specifically in these democratic counties. so the results in the republican counties, there's no reason for the secretary of state to weigh in. there's no dispute. it's unanimous. democrats are good with more early voting there. in the democratic counties, there is a dispute because republicans are objecting and the secretary of state is siding with them and they're blocking more early voting. we're going to have no early voting on nights and weekends in democratic counties in ohio, but we will have nights and weekends in the republican counties. tomorrow morning, the republican secretary of state in ohio says he's going to make a big announcement regarding the election, and who knows what

president obama will board air force one to the swing state of ohio for mansfield and akron. the president plans to focus on the economy targeting the middle class. >> this is the president's second stop in akron in less than a month. he visited the news, weather, and sports eastern ohio city during his bus tour in july. back from his foreign policy tour, mitt romney returnst to the campaign trail on saturday. romney helped fuel speculation that a pick might be announced soon when his campaign said they'll release the name through a smart phone app. >> before announcing his choice, romney has some business to wrap up from his foreign policy trip. >> reporter: in an ad for the national review, romney defends his statement that culture explains the economic differences between israel and the palestinian people. he wrote economic freedom is the only force that has succeeded in lifting people out of poverty. many palestinians were not happy with romney's comments. >> mr. romney's knowledge of our economy is breeching potential for the syrian economy. >> reporter: both candidates

the state of ohio. >> the united states constitution and the ohio constitution. >> and part of that is to follow the directives issued by the secretary of state, correct? >> correct, which i believe i did. and still to this day believe i followed that directive. >> that directive which did not have instructions about weekends. thanks to the ohio capitol blog for providing the tape from the hearing today. thomas richie and dennis lieberman, both democrats who between them have more than 27 years of experience on their county elections board, they could be fired by the end of this week. for voting to expand voting hours for the residents of their county. they're going to be joining us live for the interview next. ic e that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy fu

going ton in that battle ground state of ohio. we'll get to your state, florida, soon, congressman. but in ohio, it's almost dead even. what do you make of the pitch that this team is making before coming to tampa? >> i think their pitch is about what the fundamental values should be of this country, especially fundamental economic values. we have to once again have tax and regulatory policies and access to capital policies to say that the united states of america is open for business, for our small businesses, as well as for our corporations and businesses. that's not what we're seeing here from this administration. when you talk about raising taxes on just those top tax brackets, right now 33%, it will go to about 36, 37%, and the 35% bracket that will go to 39.6%, that affects your small business owners. when you put on top of that the things that are coming from the health care law, such as fines if you grow your business above 50 employees, we're not promoting their success. we're not promoting the expansion and the growth an

as of last month, the obama re-election campaign is suing the state of ohio over these new rules that cut off the last three days of early voting. who knows. maybe they will win. but if they don't, then voting in ohio this year which is always hard is set to get that much harder. more ahead. stay with us. sometimes, i feel like it's me against my hair. [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. >>> after a court order affecting two ohio counties, election officials tried to speed up the line by offering paper ballots. many here refused. after hours in line, they feared their vote wouldn't count. >> that was what happened in ohio when people tried to vote in the 2004 presidential election. huge lines, up to ten-hour lines and not enough machines and waiting all day and the offer of paper ballots. don't use paper! that's what it was like if you lived in some well-populated areas of ohio in 2004

the servers for the secretary of state's computers were -- >> ohio secretary of state. >> exactly. they needed to lock into the fail oversight in chattanooga with smartech. this is went results went crazy. suddenly, an enormous number of their regular returns can in and the vote shifted. the exit polls had shown john kerry winning ohio, therefore, the election. it looked like he won the presidential election. i remember the day vividly. i went around telling people look like john kerry had one. but there was a 6.7% difference between the exit polls and the actual results. as a result, the election ended up going to bush. that was the entire story. >> in writing about what happened in ohio and alabama, one of the things to say about karl rove is a case can be made that for the last three decades his been putting a systematic attempt to gain the american electoral system by whatever means necessary. what kind of vision does karl rove have for the republican party and for american politics? >> i don't think he is an ideologue. he often has been compared to a guy named mark hanna who m

as of last month, the obama re-election campaign is suing the state of ohio over these new rules that cut off the last three days of early voting. who knows. maybe they will win. but if they don't, voting in ohio this year, which is always hard, is set to get that much harder. more ahead. stay with us. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. look at those toys. insurance must be expensive. nah. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? with tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] tums fresher

what mitt romney plans to do, there are over 900,000 veterans in the state of ohio. if you're a veteran you're over the age of 18 and you could vote. under the romney plan, 900,000 veterans won't be able to vote early. active military is a different term. the law only protects people who are currently active military meaning it's their full-time job. our argument is simple. it doesn't surprise me based on mitt romney's service record. and i'm sure the most people around him it doesn't exist. the public has a hard time understanding what it means to be a veteran. if you're a veteran who served in vietnam and lost both of your legs or you're a disabled veteran who returned home from iraq and afghanistan or you're an elderly veteran from world war ii, you can't vote early. don't you think that it's hard for elderly veterans from world war ii to make it to the polls? that's what the romney plan does. it says that older veterans who has served their country for years, some who retired after 20 years of military service are somehow less of a veteran than our active militar

of ohio. cue the right wing spin machine. on thursday breitbart.com claim that the government was trying to restrict voting. mitt romney was more than happy with that story. take a listen. >> romney: any effort to impede the right of our military members overseas or here domestically voting would be an extraordinary violation of the trust we should have for those who serve so valiantly. [ screaming ] >> jennifer: so here is david axelrod this weekend firing back. >> that lawsuit, it stands up for the right of military service people to vote early but it wants that right for everyone in ohio. i don't understand what it is about the republican party that they want to shrink participation in election. that's not a very confident party to me. >> jennifer: the question really is this a desperate attempt by mitt romney to paint the president as anti-military or is it another republican ploy to disenfranchise voters. probably both. happy birth voting rights act. and with me now is will crossly. the d