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Provisional ballots OK'd for now [OH SoS will use judge's rules, outrageous quote from Fed judge]
Plain Dealer [Cleveland] ^ | Oct 21, 2004 | Scott Hiaasen and Bill Sloat

Posted on 10/21/2004 11:38:12 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko

Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell adopted new provisional ballot rules on Wednesday after a harsh rebuke from a federal judge who said Blackwell's original rules violated federal law.

U.S. District Judge James Carr said Blackwell, the state's chief election official, failed to comply with a court order last week to draft new rules for county officials handling provisional ballots - the special ballots given to voters who believe they are registered but don't appear on the voter rolls.

"Blackwell apparently seeks to accomplish the same result in Ohio in 2004 that occurred in Florida in 2000," Carr wrote.

Last month, Blackwell said provisional ballots must not be given to voters who appear at the wrong voting precinct and that votes cast in the wrong precinct won't count.

In a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Democratic Party, Carr found that the rule violated the federal Help America Vote Act, which sought to expand the use of provisional ballots so eligible voters weren't wrongly turned away.

Carr also told Blackwell to revise his rules and make alternative drafts in case part or all of his decision is overturned. Blackwell has appealed the case to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Monday, Blackwell submitted a new rule that differed little from the one the judge had already struck down. The judge said new rules must be published soon so local election officials can train their employees properly.

So the judge drafted his own rules, which Blackwell adopted late Wednesday.

"We've always intended to comply with the judge's order," said Blackwell's spokesman, Carlo LoParo. "It's kind of hard to grasp what the judge wants."

Carr's rules would allow voters who ask for provisional ballots to receive one as long as they are registered to vote in the county.

For eligible voters in the wrong precincts, their votes would count only in federal elections, not local races.

Carr also wrote an alternative rule in case the appeals court rules that votes cast in the wrong precinct don't count.

In that case, poll workers should warn voters that their votes may not count - but the voter still can cast a ballot on demand.

Meanwhile, the appeals court in Cincinnati indicated Wednesday that it would rule quickly on the dispute. The case was put on an accelerated schedule allowing for arguments early next week - rocket speed for the appellate court.

The appeals court ordered Blackwell's lawyers to file written arguments this morning that explain why the ruling should be scrapped. The order gives Ohio Democratic Party officials until 10 a.m. Saturday to counter Blackwell's arguments.

A three-judge panel said it may hold a hearing at noon Tuesday if the written arguments are not convincing.



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: kenblackwell; provisionalballots; voterfraud
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To: Mike Fieschko
I've been thinking about this and I am really afraid.

Why are the Democrats making such a big deal out of provisional ballots? Wouldn't there be a minimal need for such ballots, since most voters are longtime voters who know their correct voting place, and newly registered voters get a voter ID card that shows where their polling place is? Sure, they want every last one of their voters to get to vote, and we know a lot of them are stupid, but still, it should not be enough to really affect the election.

Or could it?

I think they have hatched a plot of stunning proportions, and we are going to see it played out in every battleground state on Election Day.

Here's how it will work: The Democrats get buses and vans and load them up in the inner city. They make sure everyone is registered to vote. Everybody gets a pack of cigarettes or whatever. They have a lawyer and a cameraman on the bus. They take them to a suburban neighborhood precinct where they know the election will be run by little old ladies who probably don't know the new rules. They indundate the old ladies with belligerent and scary-looking inner city men who insist they are registered to vote and demand their provisional ballots. If they get them, fine; they go ahead and vote, and leave. But if the old ladies balk and refuse the provisional ballots, or even display any confusion or argument, or if a Republican poll watcher gets closer to keep an eye on the proceedings, they bring in the lawyer and the cameraman to record the "black voter suppression."

Then they put all the people back on the bus and go to the next suburban precinct, and do it all over again. There is no central registry for the provisional ballots, so there is nothing stopping people from getting them over and over again. This scenario is then repeated 500 times in every major city in every battleground state - Philly, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis - you get the picture.

Then they leak the film of the "voter suppression" to their friends in the media early in the morning, and of course they run with the story of "widespread irregularities and voter suppression." Bedlam ensues in the national media all day long, with Democrats immediately claiming the entire election is going to be unreliable and questionable because of all the "voter suppression."

Then the pre-recorded Jesse Jackson calls start an hour before the polls are supposed to close, going into all the inner city precincts, "They are trying to take our votes away again Just like they did in Florida! It's all over the TV! Get to any polling place NOW!" Everyone runs to the nearest polling place, creating long lines and panic. Emergency lawsuits are immediately filed to keep the polls open because so many people are suddenly trying to vote. republicans, of course, oppose these attempts, bringing more cries of "Republican voter suppression."

Then you have all the tens of thousands of provisional ballots cast, which turn out to be way more than any election officials anticipated. So of course, they cannot all be verified and counted on Election Night. And so, we have 11 or 12 states unable to report results on Election Night.

Meanwhile, none of these shenanigans take place in reliable Democratic states like New York or California. At the end of the night, John Kerry has a substantial lead in the popular vote, although the Electoral vote is still up for grabs depending on those 11 or 12 battleground states. Nonetheless, John Kerry declares victory and says he will not let the Republicans steal this election like they did in 2000.

The next day lawsuits are filed in every state, while John Kerry continues to declare himself President-Elect. he says evry vite must count, no matter how it was cast, and because so much Republican intimidation and suppression went on all over America, the states have an obligation to reopen the polls and do it again.

21 posted on 10/21/2004 12:16:27 PM PDT by Dems_R_Losers (Proud to be a Reagan Alumna!)
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To: Mike Fieschko

This is insane. The Ohio vote is now guaranteed to be in the courts until January...


22 posted on 10/21/2004 12:16:35 PM PDT by pabianice
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To: Mike Fieschko

It seems almost given that, should the race be very very close, that the dems will be screaming about the provision ballots if they can't be confirmed, and thus counted.

So you go to a polling place, say that you think you are registered ( you THINK?!), and you are given a provisional ballot. Later, when the registrar can't find your name anywhere as having been a registered voter, your provisional ballot is discarded and not voted. Let the screaming begin! Count every vote!


23 posted on 10/21/2004 12:18:53 PM PDT by .38sw
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To: Bikers4Bush

This goes to the 6th District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. They are pretty decent there IIRC.


24 posted on 10/21/2004 12:20:05 PM PDT by Tuxedo (Vote early... vote often... vote Republican.)
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To: Bikers4Bush; michaelbfree

Michigan is just as bad...maybe worse than Ohio.


25 posted on 10/21/2004 12:21:24 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: pabianice

That's one of the dem strategies here. They want to tie up our electoral votes as long as they can in the courts.

It's a downright disgusting strategy designed to minimize our votes.


26 posted on 10/21/2004 12:22:13 PM PDT by Bikers4Bush (Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for true conservatives!)
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To: IamHD

Does Michigan have a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and if so have both senators and the governor spoken out against it?


27 posted on 10/21/2004 12:23:18 PM PDT by Bikers4Bush (Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for true conservatives!)
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To: Nakatu X

Ohio is in the Sixth Circuit, which is pretty evenly split or slightly left-leaning -- having remained that way longer into Bush's term than otherwise would have been the case due to filibustering by the two Michiganders. (Remember the U.Michigan racial preference cases, and the infamous Senate Dems' memo indicating the NAACP's desire that a Bush nominee to the Circuit Court be delayed until after those cases were decided?)


28 posted on 10/21/2004 12:27:47 PM PDT by pogo101
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To: .38sw
"Later, when the registrar can't find your name anywhere as having been a registered voter, your provisional ballot is discarded and not voted. Let the screaming begin! Count every vote!"

That's exactly what will happen. Over 10,000 lawyers positioned at poll places, just watching and waiting! A large majority will be postioned in black and hispanic areas. If you are even told to go to a different line, there will be trouble!

29 posted on 10/21/2004 12:29:54 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: pogo101

Ohio is in the Sixth Circuit, which is pretty evenly split or slightly left-leaning -- "

Still, don't you think that they might look to see what the Florida Supreme Court did? I mean they are REALLY LIBERAL, we know that for sure. Remember, the ones who GAVE US WITH A BOW that endless nightmare?....


30 posted on 10/21/2004 12:38:07 PM PDT by SaintDismas (Jest becuz you put yer boots in the oven, don't make it bread)
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To: Mike Fieschko
Clear violation of equal protection clause.

Provisional voters are allowed to vote in the wrong precincts whereas properly registered voters are not.

Look for this ruling to be struck down on appeal.

31 posted on 10/21/2004 12:39:59 PM PDT by rebel_yell2
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To: rebel_yell2

Clear violation of equal protection clause."

Is that what they are argueing? Or just one of?


32 posted on 10/21/2004 12:41:46 PM PDT by SaintDismas (Jest becuz you put yer boots in the oven, don't make it bread)
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To: Bikers4Bush
"Does Michigan have a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and if so have both senators and the governor spoken out against it?"

Yes, it is on the Michigan ballot. Levin and Stabenow voted against the U.S. constitutional amendment, stating that it should be a state's right.

33 posted on 10/21/2004 12:43:49 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD

Have they actively come out against the state version?


34 posted on 10/21/2004 12:44:38 PM PDT by Bikers4Bush (Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for true conservatives!)
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To: Dems_R_Losers
Then you have all the tens of thousands of provisional ballots cast, which turn out to be way more than any election officials anticipated

There are going to be millions of them.

This is the most absurd (and unconstitutional) idea I have ever heard.

Electors for President and Vice President are chosen per the directions of the State Legislature of the State in which the electors are chosen.

Has any State Legislature passed a law authorizing or permitting "provisional ballots"?

35 posted on 10/21/2004 12:50:49 PM PDT by Jim Noble (FR Iraq policy debate begins 11/3/04. Pass the word.)
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To: Mike Fieschko

Judge Carr should know that uninformed voters who go to the wrong voting precinct are "a theoretically tiny universe of people" and there should be no need to accomodate them.


36 posted on 10/21/2004 12:52:41 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: Jim Noble

Texas allows provisional ballots, but under certain restrictions which I can't recite from memory. IIRC, it's not as wide-open as what I hear that the federal law provides.


37 posted on 10/21/2004 1:23:58 PM PDT by Iwo Jima
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To: Bikers4Bush

The conduct of the vote is at the discretion of each state.

Just the fact that local races are prohibited to those in the wrong precincts should prove that the judge has interposed on the state something that the judge jerry-rigged with gum and spittal to replace what a legislature put together after careful deliberation and thoughtful, lengthy debate.


38 posted on 10/21/2004 1:57:59 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army and Proudly Supporting BUSH/CHENEY 2004!)
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To: Bikers4Bush

Not to my knowledge, but I haven't read a local paper in years, (too liberal) and I don't watch local television programming. I get all the news that I need right here. lol


39 posted on 10/21/2004 2:03:27 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: wequalswinner

The way it'd work on appeal is, first a three-judge panel, whose members are selected AT RANDOM, would hear and rule on the appeal. Thereafter, it's possible (happens only rarely) that the full complement of active (as opposed to semi-retired "senior) judges on the Circuit would RE-hear the initial panel's decision.

Even out here in the Ninth, it's possible to get a conservative PANEL. I was just saying that the overall roster for the Sixth Circuit is one pretty evenly split left/right. (It was barely left in the michigan cases, which were one of those rare full-court-rehearings. The racial-preferences side won by one vote. Only thereafter did the Senate add two new Sixth Circuit Bush appointee judges. So maybe it's a teensy bit RIGHT, now. Hard to say.)


40 posted on 10/21/2004 2:05:40 PM PDT by pogo101
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