PR.com (Allison Kugel): You must be pretty excited that your state finally came through for the Democrats in this election.

Dennis Kucinich: Ohio has been trending Democrat for the last few years with the Democratic sweep in 2006. We’ve added more members of Congress in the party. The Barack Obama victory was really the result of efforts that have been put in place for the last couple years, including the Secretary of State’s office which was really crucial. You remember in 2004 the Republican Secretary of State was also a co-chair of President [Bush’s] re-election committee, and used many devices in order to frustrate voter turnout, particularly in Democratic areas.

PR.com: Is that a fact, or speculation?

Dennis Kucinich: That is a fact. That is not disputable. There’s been all kinds of studies and public hearings on that.

PR.com: Did those voter suppression tactics that were used in Ohio in 2004 mainly take place in financially underprivileged and minority neighborhoods?

Dennis Kucinich: They were having it primarily in minority districts. This was one of the reasons why [Congresswoman] Stephanie Tubbs Jones and I were involved in objecting to the approval of the Electoral College. From Ohio, she and I and a few other members of Congress objected to the count in the Electoral College because we felt that the election results in Ohio were because of inappropriate conduct on the part of the Secretary of State.

PR.com: How were those kinds of voter suppression tactics thwarted this time around?

Dennis Kucinich: There were thousands of attorneys who were present and who were trained as election monitors by the Barack Obama campaign. And the Secretary of State made sure that it was a fair election. She wasn’t there as an advocate. She was there to make sure the election laws were followed fairly for all parties, which is really the appropriate role for the Secretary of State. They can’t be in a position of determining who should get the advantage in voting.

click to read entire interview with Dennis Kucinich