The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, Cobb & Badnarik sued Ken Blackwell on Monday

asking a judge to order every county in the state to recount votes for president by hand no later than Dec. 6.

The next day, Dec. 7, is the "safe harbor" date -- the day Ohio determines who will represent voters in the Electoral College. The college officially chooses America's president six days later, on Dec. 13.

A judge in the federal court in Toledo -- where the case was filed late Monday -- has scheduled a hearing on the case for this morning [Tuesday]...

Monday's suit was also filed by seven Ohio voters and Common Cause Ohio, a nonprofit group that encourages honest and open government.

It accuses Republican Blackwell -- co-chairman of Bush's Ohio campaign -- of dragging his feet in the official post-Election Day count to protect his party's victory, noting that according to Blackwell's vote certification schedule, boards of elections would have one day to conduct a recount, when 10 are needed.

John Bonifaz, general counsel for the National Voting Rights Institute, which is representing Cobb and Badnarik, said the issue was of fundamental importance to democracy.

"What right does the secretary of state have to push forward a slate of electors who arguably may not be the ones chosen by the people of Ohio?" Bonifaz asked.

Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo said the recount hasn't started because the ballots haven't been counted.

The Dayton Daily News explains the date issues more precisely:

Ohio counties have until Dec. 1 to complete their official count of the voting. Blackwell then has until Dec. 6 to declare the results and must give the presidential candidates five days' notice before any recount. That would push a recount back to Dec. 11, two days before the Electoral College meets to formally elect the president.

"The time frame will not allow a meaningful recount," said Blair Bobier, media director for the Green Party candidates David Cobb and Pat Lamarche...

While Blackwell has until Dec. 6 to declare the final statewide results, he will do so sooner "provided that the accuracy and integrity of the process is not sacrificed," Lobb wrote.

The Libertarian and Green parties have submitted a bond for $113,600 to cover the state's recount fee of $10 per precinct.

Montgomery County officials said they can do a recount the traditional way in one day. The procedure is to hand-count 3 percent of the ballots, then run them through the counting machine. If the totals match, then officials would run all the ballots through a counting machine. A full, hand re-count "is unprecedented," said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County board.

The Toledo Blade explains what John Bonifaz is specifically requesting:

The schedule requires counties to send their final results by Dec. 1 to Mr. Blackwell, who hopes to certify the count no later than Dec. 6. If a recount were then immediately requested, counties would give all candidates five days advance notice, meaning the recount could not begin until a few days at the earliest before the Dec. 13 meeting of the Ohio Electoral College in Columbus.

The last statewide recount in Ohio occurred in 1990 when the tight margin of an attorney general's race triggered an automatic recount. It took weeks to complete.

The lawsuit challenges Mr. Blackwell's interpretation of Ohio law in setting the schedule.

John Bonifaz, Boston attorney for the plaintiffs, said the suit seeks a preliminary injunction to force counties to begin the recount as soon as they certify their results.

Also on Monday, the Ohio Democratic Party jumped into the recount battle.

Assuring Ohioans receive an accurate count of all votes cast for president has prompted the Democratic Party to participate in the initiative to recount the results of the Nov. 2 presidential election.

“As Senator Kerry stated in his concession speech in Boston, we do not necessarily expect the results of the election to change, however, we believe it necessary to make sure everyone's vote is counted fairly and accurately,” said Dennis White, Ohio Democratic Party chair.

Columbus Attorney Donald McTigue will lead the recount effort on behalf of Ohio Democrats. The party will be recruiting volunteer witnesses to assist in the recount process in all 88 counties.

On Election Day and throughout the month of November, angry Ohio citizens have expressed frustration with long lines, malfunctioning voting machines and undelivered absentee ballots. There have been inconsistencies in the unofficial reports of the election, including an error in one Franklin County precinct that gave George Bush 3,893 more votes than actually cast for him.

The recount can begin after the official results are certified, which likely will be in the first week of December. The Democratic Party wants to be fully prepared to begin a recount immediately.

Volunteers can sign up at the Ohio Democratic Party website: www.ohiodems.org and the party will also accept contributions to help offset the cost of completing a recount.

“We are proud to stand up for Democrats all over the world who have asked us to make sure every vote gets counted. And we want to demonstrate that Ohio can do better in the future to guarantee every voters who wants to vote, has a chance to vote,” White said.

Keith Olbermann scrutinizes the Kerry campaign's decision to "participate" in the recount. After putting out a press release Monday entitled “Kerry/Edwards Campaign Joins Ohio Recount,” the campaign re-issued the release with the title "Kerry/Edwards Campaign Participates In Ohio Recount.”

... the lead Kerry lawyer on the ground in Ohio, Daniel Hoffheimer, was more cautionary. “What they meant to say is that the Kerry/Edwards campaign will be putting witnesses in the Boards of Elections if a recount is asked for… We are not requesting a recount.”

This is not news - we know it's the Cobb/Badnarik team requesting the recount. But it is good news that the Kerry/Edwards campaign will provide witnesses - especially if the Repugs try to shut down the recount using some bogus legal theory, like claiming the $10 per precinct fee is inadequate.

Advised of the recount push by the Green and Libertarian Parties, and their plan to sue to force a second tally even before Secretary of State Blackwell is scheduled to certify the first count, Cunningham said his statewide group might sue back to prevent a recount. “I need to see if this is merely my opinion or reflects the opinion of the association.”

The issue may boil down to money. The Glibs had raised $235,000 as of Monday morning, an amount which covers the $113,600 bond they had to provide as demanded by Ohio election law, plus some of their own organizational expenses. But Cunningham said the actual expenses would “crush county governments,” and a spokesman for Blackwell said the final cost could be $1.5 million.

Like I wrote yesterday, I'm sorry about the cost of running a Democracy. But Ohio's legislature set the $10 per precinct fee before this election, so Blackwell and local officials can't object to it after this election. If they want to recoup some of the costs, they should quickly hike the tax on Columbus hotel rooms, because there's gonna be a media circus in Columbus pretty soon...