Students Protest Florida Ballots

BOSTON--About 30 Harvard students joined forces with other Boston-area residents Saturday to protest the unfair handling of the Florida ballots from last week's presidential election.

Saturday's protest, which took place across the street from the State House, was part of a nationwide effort coordinated via www.countercoup.org., a website where activists could post messages and help coordinate simultaneous rallies in cities nationwide.

According to Harpaul A. Kohli '02, who helped organize students in Boston for the protest, the main purpose of the rally was to "demonstrate throughout the country widespread support that the vote in Florida be counted in a fair manner."

Kohli estimated that of the 250 to 300 people who participated in the protest, 30 were from Harvard.

At the protest, Kohli not only led Harvard students, but also took charge of the entire group, leading chants such as "Trust The People" and "Fair, Not Fast."

He emphasized beforehand that participants should make an effort to be non-partisan, since the protest was promoting fair elections rather than one particular candidate.

Amy C. Offner '01-- one of the campus organizers for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader--said she attended the protest to make a statement about democracy.

"Twenty-thousand ballots were thrown away, and those ballots matter very much in an election being decided by a few hundred votes," Offner said. "I'm here because I'm hoping for a revote in Palm Beach County. It's a procedural question of whether elections should represent the will of the people."

Vladimir A. Kleyman '02 said he came out for the rally for similar reasons.

"We as a country need to be more careful in how we conduct elections," he said. "I think the will of the people needs to be expressed through voting and shouldn't be tangled through bureaucratic obstructions."

Ultimately, Kleyman said, there is a need to reform the electoral system so that there can't be a candidate that wins the presidency without winning the popular vote--as would occur if Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins the election.

The time and location of the protest unintentionally coincided with Boston's annual Veteran's Day parade.

Protesters remained silent while the parade passed by. Following the parade, after an hour of protesting by the State House, the group circled Boston Common for 15 minutes, then proceeded to walk to Copley Square, holding signs and chanting.

According to www.countercoup.org, 84 cities were to have hosted similar protests Saturday, and all intend to have another protest next Saturday.

The nationwide protests were organized in three days completely via the Internet, Kohli said.

"Because of the decentralized planning, we're using the Internet as a new means of organizing," he said.