Michael Welch for Global Research, Reporting from Columbus, Ohio.

Election Day has finally arrived here in the United States.

Ohio was the site of numerous and significant  irregularities in the 2004 election.

Tens of thousands of voters were purged from the polls, major disparities between exit polls and election results persisted, and clear indications of hacking of the vote processed by election machines which swung the result toward the Republican candidate George W Bush.

Ohio is considered a ‘battleground state’ and a bellwether state.

That is, since 1964, the Buckeye State has always backed the presidential candidate who would emerge victorious.

It seemed like a logical place for me to locate myself to try to get a close-up view of the US elections.

One of my local guides to this political safari is Bob Fitrakis.

He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a political science professor at Columbus State Community College, editor of the Columbus Free Press,  and the Green Party’s candidate for County Prosecutor in Franklin County. He has authored or co-authored several books including: Did George W. Bush Steal America’s 2004 Election? Essential Documents  and  What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft And Fraud in the 2004 Election

Fitrakis was also one of four attorneys to file challenges to Ohio’s elections results.

Today, November 8, Prof. Fitrakis and a small collective of people is monitoring the election for irregularities. I met with him about two hours after the polls opened to record this interview.

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Stay tuned for more Global Research election day coverage from Columbus, Ohio.