ACLU Sues Seminole Co. Elections Office Over Faxed Registration

http://www.wkmg.com ^ | October 19, 2004 | The Associated Press

[sheikdetailfeather]

ACLU Sues Seminole Co. Elections Office Over Faxed Registration

POSTED: 6:39 pm EDT October 19, 2004 ORLANDO, Fla. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is suing Seminole County elections officials, saying they refused to register a voter living in Germany.

David B. de Treville has lived overseas since 1987. He says elections officials denied his application to register and request an absentee ballot because it was a fax, not the original.

He faxed the application in August, and was informed of the denial eight weeks later when he called to follow up because he had not heard anything. When de Treville offered to send the original by overnight mail, he was told he missed the October Forth deadline to register for the Nov. 2 election.

The Seminole County elections office didn't return messages seeking comment Tuesday night.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Seminole County is very Republican.

[Texas_Jarhead]

If he faxed it in August then why couldn't he have mailed it in August?

[IamConservative]

The mantra from the left - I heard three different spins fomr the left on it last night - "The Republicans are nit picking based on the rules."

[b4its2late]

Faxes should not be allowed. Anyone can dummy up a fax. Originals, should and must continue to be, a requirement.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

A man living overseas since 1987 should not be allowed to vote period. He is not a resident of an American state and is not on assignment by the government.

[rocksblues]

Isn't the ACLU the same organization that said it wouldn't be fair to let our troops fax in their votes because of privacy concerns?

[poobear]

So what if Seminole County is majority Republican or Democrat? I live here. This guy had plenty of time to mail the registration. He's been living overseas since 1987?

Heck, can you imagine if everyone if France or Germany could just FAX a registration? Yeah, that's it..... call the DNC...

[Elkiejg]

I live in Brevard Co. and will be working at the polls. We had our "class" this morning and our Elec. super. said the lawyers from NY and MASS have already made their presence known. They are attempting to challenge everything - but he said, HE'S READY FOR THEM!! And he went on to say HE WILL ARREST, SUE AND CHARGE WITH A FELONY ANYONE WHO MESSES WITH HIS VOTERS, POLLING PLACES AND BALLOTS!!! Great guy - wish we could clone him for every county in FL.

[sheikdetailfeather]

So What? I think they are targeting Republicans. That is so what.

[rolling_stone]

A man living overseas since 1987 should not be allowed to vote period. He is not a resident of an American state and is not on assignment by the government.

Sorry they are called ex patriots and are entitled to vote..oh yes they have to pay taxes also unless they renounce their citizenship at which time they can no longer vote either..The laws in the US reach beyond our borders and thus they should representation...something about a tea party years ago...

[SAJ]

Craig James is an ex Patriot.

This German dude is an expatriate.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Please congratulate him for his courage!

[talleyman]

something about a tea party years ago...

Jimmy Carter says that was unnecessary...
But still, I don't recall the battle cry being "No taxation without faxation!"

[LasVegasMac]

something about a tea party years ago...

LOL.

Well said.

LVM

[Steve_Seattle]

An AP story based on one voter's problems? Why don't they do a story on my son, who tried to register through a pro-Dem campus group, never got results, and finally was registered promptly by the campus Young Republicans?

[BJClinton]

Here's an excerpt, it requires registration for the rest:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/9596638.htm

WASHINGTON — Missouri's recently announced plan to allow combat-zone soldiers to vote by e-mail has triggered concerns among voting experts over the secrecy and security of those ballots.

They said the system, which would use both e-mail and fax machines to get ballots from military service people in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan back to local election offices in Missouri, could be subject to hacking, viruses and other chicanery because they would not be encrypted.

“These machines are highly vulnerable,” said Barbara Simons, a member of the nonpartisan National Committee for Voting Integrity and a former president of the Association for Computing Machinery. “We could have a virus that changes ballots and then erases itself. It's certainly feasible technically.”

In addition, voting-rights advocates and other political experts said because the system required that ballots be identified by the voters' names for validation purposes, and because they were handled by others several steps along the way, that people serving in the military would lose the right to a secret ballot.

“It violates everything that we have regarded as essential to the functioning of democracy — the secrecy of the ballot,” said Laughlin McDonald, director of the voting rights project of the American Civil Liberties Union. “If you do away with that, you allow all kinds of manipulation.”

[Hermann the Cherusker]

No one living overseas more than one year pays taxes. Nor do they reside in a State, therefore they aren't citizens of any State, although they are US citizens. They aren't counted in the census.

Allowing a man who has lived in Germany since 1987 to vote in Florida is like allowing me to vote in Wisconsin, even though I haven't lived there since 1992.

[rocksblues]

Thanks! I saw this on FR but couldn't remember if the ACLU had been involved.

[rolling_stone]

Craig James is an ex Patriot.
This German dude is an expatriate.


you are correct..so much for spell check..LOl

[rolling_stone]

No one living overseas more than one year pays taxes. Nor do they reside in a State, therefore they aren't citizens of any State, although they are US citizens. They aren't counted in the census.


Uh wrong..living overseas more than one year does not exempt you from income tax, you may be thinking of the foreign earned income exclusion applicable to some income and some taxpayers..

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=97130,00.html


also americans overseas and voting
http://www.fvap.gov/


The law "...allows citizens outside the United States (not affiliated with the Uniformed Services) to vote in the state or territory where they last resided immediately prior to departing the United States, even if many years have elapsed, and the voter maintains no residence in the state or territory, and the intent to return to that state or territory may not be certain..."
If you have never lived in the United States but are a citizen through your parent(s), then you have to answer the residency question as your parent(s) would.

http://gocanada.about.com/od/embassiesincanada/a/usa_vote.htm


I'm not saying it is right but that is the law.