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Mencken
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republican thugs will not be allowed to harass voters at the polls in ohio
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...s/10069015.htm
Note: Registration required, but I have posted it in its entirety. For those pesky websites, I highly recommend http://www.bugmenot.com
Quote:
Two federal judges deny voter challenges at polls
TERRY KINNEY
Associated Press
CINCINNATI - Two federal judges on Monday barred political party representatives from challenging voters at polling places throughout Ohio. State Republicans planned to appeal.
An order by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott of Cincinnati found that the application of Ohio's statute allowing challengers at polling places was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge John Adams of Akron said poll workers are the ones to determine if voters are eligible.
"In light of these extraordinary circumstances, and the contentious nature of the imminent election, the court cannot and must not turn a blind eye to the substantial likelihood that significant harm will result not only to voters, but also to the voting process itself, if appointed challengers are permitted at the polls," Adams said.
The ruling says people appointed as challengers cannot be at the polls for the sole purpose of challenging voters' qualifications.
Republicans said Adams' ruling would allow them to still be in the polling places. In that case, challengers would plan "to observe, to be vigilant, to take notes," Weaver said.
But Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office sent a memo to county election boards Monday telling them to bar all challengers from polling places, based on the two rulings. Adams' office refused to clarify the ruling.
Dlott said the presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process questioning voters about their eligibility would impede voting.
Mark Weaver, lawyer for the Ohio Republican Party, said the party would appeal Dlott's ruling to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. If the appeals court agrees to keep challengers out of the polls, the party was prepared to appeal Adams' ruling.
"The law is clearly in our favor," Weaver said. "The 6th Circuit has already had to correct some of the bad decisions made by district court judges and we think they'll do it again."
Dlott ruled on a lawsuit by a black Cincinnati couple who said Republican plans to deploy challengers to largely black precincts in Hamilton County was meant to intimidate and block black voters.
In Akron, the Summit County Democratic Party sued the state to try to block the witnesses, claiming the law allowing registration challenges is unconstitutional because it does not give a disqualified voter a chance to appeal in time to cast a ballot.
Republicans wanted to put challengers in polling places because of concerns about fraud with hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in a state President Bush and Sen. John Kerry both say they need to win.
Dlott said in her order that the evidence "does not indicate that the presence of additional challengers would serve Ohio's interest in preventing voter fraud better than would the system of election judges."
The rulings apply to all 88 counties, said Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell.
If the challengers appointed by political parties, issue campaigns and candidates are barred from polling places Tuesday, the only people under state law who could then issue challenges would be four election officials at each precinct, who are divided between political parties, or another voter.
Andy Padrutt, executive director of the Democratic Party in Summit County, said Adam's ruling was a victory.
The Republican challenges would cause "havoc and chaos in the polls on Election Day," Padrutt said. "It would really serve no purpose. All it would do is disenfranchise voters without recourse."
In a separate case last week, Dlott had temporarily halted election board hearings on challenges. The state GOP had challenged 35,000 registrations because mail to those addresses came back undelivered. Democrats said the GOP was trying to keep poor and minorities, who move more often, from voting, and was targeting new voters registered by political groups supporting Kerry.
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I'm always surprised at the number of Republicans who are unaware that their party is doing this in several swing states. Although they have a legitimate concern in that a small number of people might vote unlawfully, their "efforts" will do little to solve that problem, and they will create even greater problems for everyone else who wants to vote. Anybody familiar with politics in general and with Karl Rove in particular will tell you that it's the slowdown they're after. Their goal is to decrease turnout, and I'm relieved that the courts have stood up for what's right.
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