Posted on 10/14/2004 11:37:57 AM PDT by 11th_VA
TOLEDO, Ohio -- In a victory for the Democrats, a federal judge ruled Thursday that Ohio voters who show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day can still cast ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered.
U.S. District Judge James Carr blocked a directive from Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, who recently announced that poll workers must send voters to their correct precinct.
The judge said that voters who show up at the wrong polling place after moving without notifying the elections board, and those whose names cannot be found on the registration rolls, should be able to cast provisional ballots there.
Denying any voter the right to a provisional vote will erode confidence in the election and lessen the incentive to vote, the judge said.
"Lessened participation at the polls diminishes the vitality of our democracy," Carr said.
The decision is a victory for the Ohio Democratic Party and a coalition of labor and voter rights group, which said Blackwell's order discriminates against the poor and minorities.
My guess, the Dems are trying to make up for fraud vote they could do with punchcard voting. The poor Dem operative can't take a stack of punchcards, line up the perferated holes, then punchout the chads. Recently, Ohio went to computer voting, so now they need a black box hacker.
Years ago when I moved to where I live now .. I learned that went to the wrong polling place because my name was not in the book .. I was then directed to the correct one that was located 2 blocks away
Why poll workers in Ohio can't do this is beyond me
Any news on an appeal?
We can all thank Al Gore for this kind of shit.
So they can vote in a different congressional district? Total BS.
WHY THE HELL CANT WE USE THE PURPLE INK THAT THE AFGAN PEOPLE USED !!!!
YOU VOTE, YOU GET MARKED !!!!
YOU CANT VOTE AGAIN !!!!
Of course the election would be long over and were not going to overturn it after the fact, are we?
Actually, this should not be a problem for provisional ballots, since I think you do need to present some kind of ID to vote provisionally, and the votes are counted separately and only if there are enough to change the result. However, it is a problem for fraudulent registrations.
This is no big deal. A provisional ballot only counts when it is validated by Board of Elections after the election as a legit vote. When people see what is involved in casting a provisional ballot most will opt to go the correct pct. If they have moved and not told the BOE then they have to vote provisional. It will only be counted IF they were registered somewhere in the state and only those races and issues also on the ballot where they now live will be counted if they vote anywhere else. I am glad I am not the one to review the prov. ballots. This is how it is in MD.
Looks like my state is going to be a Florida in the making. What BS that is coming from these corrupt judges. They might as well have ruled that voter fraud is legal.
What should be done then, is that those that show up at a different polling station, be pulled aside, the polling officer determine where they are supposed to go, then phone that station, and have their name crossed off the other list.
This might also be a good way to make instant arressts.
There is a way to stop the Democrats from cheating if the will to do so is there.
and a dab of purple dye so they can't vote twice.
this will have to be appealed to the federal circuit court that includes Ohio. This was a ruling from a Federal judge. This is a clear intrusion upon the states right to conduct fair elections.
This may sound like a dumb question, but why can't they just get directions to the correct polling place and GO there ??
If they cheat and narrowly win Ohio (and that makes the difference in the electoral college), then we have no choice but to challenge the results. It will be fairly easy to see based on the numbers we see coming from each county.
"The judge said that voters who show up at the wrong polling place after moving without notifying the elections board, and those whose names cannot be found on the registration rolls, should be able to cast provisional ballots there. "
The Help America Vote Act says everyone who wants to vote can vote. If they are not properly registered in your precinct, they vote a Provisional Ballot. You cannot turn anyone away who wants to vote there.
However, the provisional ballots are not counted on election night. Within a few weeks after the election, the Provisional Ballot Review Board, with representatives from each party, would determine whether each voter was eligible to vote or not and add these votes to the final count.
The only problem I see is if someone wanted to really mess things up, they could have their people vote in every precinct and use up all the Provisional Ballot forms. Of course they would then need to move before their crime was discovered to evade prosecution.
Note that even undocumented workers without ID can come in and request a provisional ballot. It will not be counted but could mess up the system.
Carr, James G.
Born 1940 in Boston, MA
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
Nominated by William J. Clinton on January 27, 1994, to a seat vacated by Richard B. McQuade, Jr.; Confirmed by the Senate on May 6, 1994, and received commission on May 9, 1994.
Education:
Kenyon College, B.A., 1966
Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1969
Professional Career:
Private practice, Chicago, Illinois, 1966-1968
Staff attorney, Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation, Illinois, 1968-1970
Adjunct professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1969
Adjunct professor, Loyola University, Chicago, School of Law, 1970
Associate professor, University of Toledo College of Law, 1970-1979
Assistant prosecutor, Lucas County Prosecutor's Office, Ohio, 1972-1973
U.S. Magistrate, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, 1979-1994
Race or Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
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