Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean today said that “It’s clear that there was massive voter suppression” in Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. Dean pointed to an “appearance of impropriety” in the actions of Republican election officials in Ohio, adding that, “It’s been widely reported over the last years that Republicans do target African-Americans for voter suppression.” Dean said that Democrats could “not conclude one way or the other” whether John Kerry would have won if the alleged suppression had not taken place. Addressing possible Republican objections to his charges, Dean said that Republicans “don’t care what the facts are” and that “blather and hot air” will not change the facts of the situation in Ohio. Dean made the statements this morning at a press conference in Washington unveiling a new DNC study of the Ohio vote.