CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday barred political party challengers from polling places throughout Ohio during Tuesday's election. State Republicans planned to appeal.
The order by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott found that the application of Ohio's statute allowing individuals to challenge the legitimacy of a voter at the polling place was unconstitutional.
The presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process questioning voters about their eligibility would impede voting, she said.
Mark Weaver, lawyer for the Ohio Republican Party, called the ruling erroneous and said the party would ask the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to overturn it.
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.
Republicans said they wanted to prevent voter fraud.
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."
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 Sen. John Kerry.
PWNED!
Maybe Ohio will actually have a fair election without Republi-drones trying to fuck it up up.
I can't believe some people are still trying to deny that the country is more divided now than it was 4 years ago. Take a FUCKING LOOK at what's going on, people!
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Darth Wong wrote:I can't believe some people are still trying to deny that the country is more divided now than it was 4 years ago. Take a FUCKING LOOK at what's going on, people!
From the news I see, it's practically a perfect split between Kerry and Bush. I only hope the sane (Kerry supporting) people are holding back till the last minute.
Darth Wong wrote:I can't believe some people are still trying to deny that the country is more divided now than it was 4 years ago. Take a FUCKING LOOK at what's going on, people!
Who says this?
A few people have said it on this board, but I don't want to single them out right now because these threads are intense enough as it is without dragging up peoples' names for past comments (something which is technically against our rules anyway).
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Sorry if this has explained, but what exactly is "party challenging"? I don't think we have that here.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
Gandalf wrote:Sorry if this has explained, but what exactly is "party challenging"? I don't think we have that here.
I believe it's mostly standing at the polling place, singling out black people and telling them that they're not eligible to vote.
... that's fucked up.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
Gandalf wrote:Sorry if this has explained, but what exactly is "party challenging"? I don't think we have that here.
New voters get sent some information in the mail. If the stuff is returned due to a false/bad address, and the person shows up at the polling place on election day, then the 'challenger' could dispute that person's ability to vote.
Republicans say it's needed to prevent illeagal immigrants/your dog sparky/your late grandmother from voting Democratic.
Democrats say that it intimidates first-time voters and depresses turnout among minorities who are hardest hit.
Warwolves | VRWC | BotM | Writer's Guild | Pie loves Rei
Alex Moon wrote:
Republicans say it's needed to prevent illeagal immigrants/your dog sparky/your late grandmother from voting Democratic.
Which is obviously bullshit since outright voter fraud is not exactly a major issue in the United States and there are much better ways to conduct reform in the voting system besides putting GOP bulldogs outside the polling places.
Gandalf wrote:Sorry if this has explained, but what exactly is "party challenging"? I don't think we have that here.
I believe it's mostly standing at the polling place, singling out black people and telling them that they're not eligible to vote.
Are they 18? Yes, do they have a voter registration card? yes. Then how can they not be eligible? Unless Ohio has a literacy test
Remember: vote early, and vote often.
"preemptive killing of cops might not be such a bad idea from a personal saftey[sic] standpoint..." --Keevan Colton
"There's a word for bias you can't see: Yours." -- William Saletan
Gandalf wrote:Sorry if this has explained, but what exactly is "party challenging"? I don't think we have that here.
I believe it's mostly standing at the polling place, singling out black people and telling them that they're not eligible to vote.
Are they 18? Yes, do they have a voter registration card? yes. Then how can they not be eligible? Unless Ohio has a literacy test
Who cares? No one said challengers have to tell the truth. They can pull some poor guy over and tell him that if he's ever gotten a speeding ticket, he's not eligible and just keep the pressure on until the guy turns around and leaves.
They can also attempt to slow down the pace so that some will get tired of waiting in line and leave. The Republicans are sending most of their challengers to predominantly black counties, so they want as few people in those counties as possible voting.
Last edited by Durandal on 2004-11-01 08:01pm, edited 1 time in total.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Durandal wrote:
I believe it's mostly standing at the polling place, singling out black people and telling them that they're not eligible to vote.
Are they 18? Yes, do they have a voter registration card? yes. Then how can they not be eligible? Unless Ohio has a literacy test
Who cares? No one said challengers have to tell the truth. They can pull some poor guy over and tell him that if he's ever gotten a speeding ticket, he's no eligible and just keep the pressure on until the guy turns around and leaves.
That is when I would punch someone in the face.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/ Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Which is why I volunteered to be a poll watcher (Sorry, not in Ohio.). Someone has to watch the other poll watchers.
I think as long as the elderly are brought to vote by their younger friends and relatives, these vultures will keep their distance. They will pretty much only attack old black ladies who show up alone and if the Dems don't have watchers of their own. Fucking racist cowards. The best way to deal with them is for other voters (after voting) to call them out for the yellowbellied racist fucks they are.
They just ran this article in today's issue of my college's paper.
"And the sign said, 'Anybody caught tresspassing, will be shot on sight.' So I jumped over the fence and yelled at the house, 'Hey! What -'" BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM
Sorry about the link. Silly me, thinking a free paper won't need registration every time.
Challenging voter validity
By Roxanne Anzelc
Published: Monday, November 1, 2004
Article Tools: Page 1 of 2
Before Erica Tegowski talked to her political science professor, David Wilson, she wasn't going to vote on Tuesday because of a letter she received from the Lucas County Board of Elections and a challenger, Joelle Clink.
The letter said, "You are unqualified to vote because you are not a resident of the precinct where you can vote," was signed by Paula Hicks-Hudson, director of the board, and called for Tegowski to attend a hearing at the board of elections Oct. 30.
Clink could not be reached for comment.
The challenge letters, sent by six challengers to almost 1,000 Lucas County residents, have since been ruled illegal by the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, according to the LA Times.
Challenges are usually issued because of residency, citizenship and age, according to WTOL-11.
Students who received a challenge letter should still go vote at their polling place, according to Keith Wilkowski, a Toledo lawyer working for the Democratic Party to ensure eligible voters are allowed to vote.
Wilkowski said a driver's license and utility bill with the student's name and address are helpful, but students do not need them. He said voters should only be asked for identifying information such as a driver's license number or the last four digits of their social security number.
Students whose address on their driver's license is different from the address they used to register, such as their dorm room, should not have a problem voting, Wilkowski said.
If a voter is challenged by an observer at the polling place, they will be sent to precinct judges. There are four precinct judges per polling place. The judges will ask for the voter's address and if the voter answers correctly, he or she should be allowed to vote on a regular ballot, Wilkowski said.
He said students who are registered to vote outside of Lucas County and have not requested an absentee ballot can go to the polling place they would use according to their Toledo address and fill out a provisional ballot that will be locked away for 10 days, checked to make sure the person hasn't voted elsewhere, and then counted.
Wilkowski is skeptical about the challenges.
"It is my theory that challenges aren't done randomly," he said, naming young voters as targets because they are more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate.
Noe said she didn't find out the ruling by the U.S. District Court until 2 p.m. on Friday.
The challenged voters' hearing was set for Saturday morning. Many of the voters who received the challenge letters were frustrated and angry when they showed up at Government Center, only to find out the hearing had been canceled, according to a ABC-13 report.
Police were called to make sure the frustrated voters stayed calm, the report said.
Noe said those voters who received challenge letters should still go vote in the precinct they're registered in, and she recommended bringing identification.
The challenge letter also stated "Whoever commits election falsification is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree."
"I was really upset and confused," Tegowski said about receiving the letter. "I didn't even know what it meant."
Tegowski was concerned that people who received a challenge letter will think they are ineligible to vote.
"I guess this happened to a lot of students and nobody really knows what to do," she said. "I just want people to be aware that you can [vote] and these [letters] are illegal."
Tegowski registered to vote last year on campus and is a first-time voter.
Kim Beres, a freshman student with an undecided major, also received a challenge letter.
"At first I was kind of scared and then I was pretty annoyed because [the challenger] was a person who goes to UT and didn't just look me up in the [student] directory," Beres said.
Megan Harrington, president of the UT College Republicans, was the challenger who sent Beres the letter. Harrington declined to comment.
Beres said the challenge letter would not deter her from voting.
"I'm very glad I can vote in this election. I was quite annoyed that my right was being taken away," said Beres, who filled out her registration card in August and is a first-time voter.
"And the sign said, 'Anybody caught tresspassing, will be shot on sight.' So I jumped over the fence and yelled at the house, 'Hey! What -'" BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM
I just realized that I could've made a shit load of money if I sold t-shirts in swing states that read "I'm black, I'm voting Kerry and if you're a challenger, go fuck yourself" on the front.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
