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.
Dead on. This is about getting the buses loaded and driving around town until the polls close, voting provisional ballots at each polling place.
As a new Ohio resident who can't believe the judge's ruling in our case, HOW EXACTLY IS IT "DISENFRANCHISING" SOMEONE WHO GOES TO THE WRONG LOCATION TO VOTE?
I'm a bit sick of this stuff. We have months and months to determine and locate our polling places. Don't the rules mean ANYTHING?
OK, don't answer that, I know it already.
Didn't I see something earlier about the DOJ sending the judge a little note .. Hmmmm? wonder what that was about.
After all, "No state shall deny any person equal protection of the law."
"Precisely! How long will decent, honest Americans sit back while self-serving activist judges gut our constitutional rights?" This is quickly becoming a legitimate case for anarchy."
But what should be done? I thought that there were LAWS on the books for this sort of stuff! Or do activist judges WRITE laws now?
Vote Early. Vote Often.
Fricking Judges!
If you're not smart to know IF you're registered to vote OR if you don't know where to vote...
...then you shouldn't be voting!
"But what should be done?"
I've mulled that questioned around many times. Because so many of the federal judges are liberal activists, the legal system is no longer a recourse. This would be like an honorable German citizen attempting to legally challenge Hitler. These judges are bought and paid for. To bring these injustices to a head will require much sacrifice. I honestly believe it's getting down to rebelling against them with the understanding that we may have to pay the price so many before us have paid.
Our own home grown Al Demaqueda network trying to affect the 2004 elections.
No need for bombs. We have the devils minions doing the dirty work. Pray for Bush and America.
Interesting that this point isn't defined: Did he require identification, or deny identification?
Sheer paper force. Why would we obey orders from a bunch of Nazies enforcing their own cabal laws on us. sh!theads.
This is somewhat off the subject, but seems as though the first time I went to register to vote, over 35 years ago, you had to demonstrate the ability to read.
This crap in Ohio & Michigan is a "disaster waiting to happen". I can already imagine a senario of someone voting with a provisional ballot in about 7 different precincts & then when he is challanged in 1 of them, he yells & screams that he is being disenfranchised.
I won't name names...(cough Cough) Milliken
I actually did ask our representative at the phonebank tonight about that. She told me that here in MIchigan we have access to the registration list by a simple phone call. She didn't seem to be worried about the provisional ballot as it gives them time to sort them out. Which ones are legal and not.
Hi. I'm an idiot, can I vote here? Then I'll go down to Flori-duh and vote there. too!
Oh gees. The courts getting involved in elections is dangerous. We need to change the election system seriously. The courts getting involved is a very dangerous precendent.
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