Posted on 10/19/2004 4:36:31 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Federal judge says Michigan must count provisional ballots in wrong precincts
10/19/2004, 6:15 p.m. ET
By DAVID EGGERT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan voters who cast ballots in the wrong polling precinct but are in the right city, township or village on Nov. 2 must have their votes for president and Congress counted, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge David Lawson nullified the state's decision to not count provisional ballots unless voters show up in the correct precinct — despite objections from Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and the U.S. Justice Department.
Provisional, or backup, ballots are used when voters say they are properly registered but their names are not on the registration rolls.
"The public interest is served when citizens can look with confidence at an election process that insures that all votes cast by qualified voters are counted," Lawson wrote in his order.
The state plans to appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling affects only votes for federal offices and not those for ballot initiatives, state lawmakers and other elected officials.
Michigan Democrats, the NAACP and voter-rights groups sued Land and state Bureau of Elections Director Chris Thomas last month. They said Thomas's instructions to 1,500 local election clerks to not count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct violated federal law and would disenfranchise thousands of voters.
The state should accommodate voters who mistakenly appear at the wrong polling precinct or who show up at the right place but are sent elsewhere — especially those who vote toward the end of the day and cannot get to another precinct in time, the groups said.
"It's a victory for the right to vote," Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said Tuesday.
State officials, however, said the ruling seriously disrupts election planning just two weeks before Election Day.
"This makes it very, very difficult for us," Secretary of State spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said. "This runs contrary to Michigan's law. We've operated on a precinct-based system for decades."
The state argues that the Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002, declares that provisional ballots should be counted according to state law. Michigan law does not give citizens the right to vote in a precinct where they do not live, the state says.
Election workers have been given instructions to help voters find where they are supposed to be voting if they turn up at the wrong polling places.
It is unclear how many provisional ballots could be cast on Nov. 2. But Democrats estimate that thousands of eligible voters went to the wrong polling place in 2000 because of changes in the polling location, confusion or forgetting where they were supposed to vote.
Provisional ballots are not counted on Election Day. They are reviewed within a six-day period after the election. If officials can verify that a voter is registered and has shown proper ID, the ballot is counted.
The state says allowing voters to cast ballots outside their home precinct could cause confusion and possibly encourage fraud. It also believes jurisdictions do not have the technology to separate and count votes solely for federal offices.
But Lawson, who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton, disagreed. He said the state already has a plan in place to count provisional ballots at the municipal level.
While training precinct-level officials to count the ballots is "no small task," Lawson wrote, the number of provisional ballots cast statewide should be manageable. In a separate issue, Lawson rejected challenges to rules concerning ID requirement for first-time voters who registered by mail.
Disagreements over provisional ballots also are being taken to court in other states.
An Ohio federal judge last week blocked a directive requiring poll workers to send voters to their correct precinct, ruling that Ohio voters can cast provisional ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered. Ohio's secretary of state is appealing.
Courts in Missouri and Florida, however, upheld those states' plans to not count provisional ballots unless they are cast in the right precinct.
The state should accommodate voters who mistakenly appear at the wrong polling precinct or who show up at the right place but are sent elsewhere — especially those who vote toward the end of the day and cannot get to another precinct in time, the groups said.
I encourage all freepers who are concerned about voter fraud to call their local Republican office and ask what is being done to combat it.
Ask what you can personally do.
I will be meeting with Republican (and probably Democrat) workers in our area on November 1st and checking all absentee ballots to make sure they are legal.
There are other things we can all do. Do it!
That they have had FOUR YEARS TO REGISTER, LEARN HOW TO READ AND MARK A BALLOT, FIND THEIR PRECINCTS, ETC means nothing.
We are looking at another election where the US Supremes have to get involved. This is ridiculous.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Well it does seem like a lot to expect the Dems to remember which crack addicts they registered where.
How embarrassing that they can't find their polling place. I would be ashamed to admit it. WHat is the advantage to this order? Just doesn't make any sense to me......
Here we go...again.
I saw this coming on caucus night. I saw Al Sharpton come to Michigan screaming that black voters had been disenfranchised. and I saw Al Sharpton fall silent.
I knew then that the democrats would use the very problems they found to thier advantage.
At the rate we're going, elections will be useless. Heck, they're almost that already. These people don't care if they destroy our republic, as long as they're back in power.
The Comedy Central live 2004 election special has already been titled 'Prelude to the Recount..'
And so it begins....this is damned scary.
Oh for crying out loud. THIS is just idiotic. It should definatly be appealed. I mean, how hard is it to find out where you're supposed to go?
MGY
Provisional ballots should be unconstitutional in precincts that don't have the ability to ensure the "one person, one vote" rule.
A person is not disenfranchised of their vote if they go to the wrong polling place. They can still vote, if they go to their proper polling place.
Why limit it to being in the same county? If it's wrong to bar someone who shows up at the wrong precinct from voting, then whether or not they're in the same county shouldn't matter. Heck, they should be able to show up in a separate state if they want to, after all, it's more important to let every moron vote than it is to have people follow simple directions.
What an embarrasment to Michiganders. Too ignorant to go to your assigned precint. But consider Jennie Granholm, my Govenor has been promised a position in Jf'nK's administration IF elected. Part of 'The Plan' ?
They already ruled in 2000.
State law stands.
I can't find the threads here but the day after caucus night in Mi. The papers were full of complaints that polling places had moved or were closed in Detroit. In fact I don't doubt it one bit. Al Sharpton has won on caucus night before, and the democrats couldn't let it happen again.
If I could smear it all over Detroit I would. The democrats screwed them and Al Sharpton took whatever bribe it took to shut him up.
What part of this is so hard to understand?
Why are Federal judges ruling on states rights?
I imagine our founders are rolling over in their graves. It is time to stop this nonsense, and come up with a comprehensive plan to register to vote, check citizenship and eligibility (felons& dead people) and impose safeguards like phot id's that can be checked. No more motor votor or paid collectors for voter registration, one central registrar for each county where one must present themselves in person if able or have a registrar go to those not able and confirm eligibility. Voting is a right, but along with it comes responsibility.
I don't want my vote negated by fraud and I don't want the process corupted by judges and lawyers. If this continues, the US will be the laughingstock of the world. The citizens who cant even remember of find out where to vote should be disqualified for incompetence.
We need to increase the penalty for voter fraud to include lifetime ban on voting/registering others and increase the penalties. Oh yeah while we are at it make ballots only in English.
This baloney shows there is something good to be said for letting people vote only if they own real property or pay income taxes, and also only those who are registered for the draft if required.
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