Posted on 10/30/2004 9:02:00 AM PDT by Pardon Me
Oglala order could prevent GOP poll watching on Pine Ridge
CARSON WALKER
Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A tribal judge filed an order Friday that, if upheld, may prevent South Dakota Republican Party workers from observing Tuesday's voting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The Four Directions Committee, which bills itself as a nonpartisan group trying to increase American Indian voting, was granted the temporary restraining order against the South Dakota Republican Party and Ryan Knutson. Oglala Sioux Tribe Judge Marina Fast Horse signed the order without telling them about it ahead of time.
In the document, Four Directions accuses Knutson of intimidating its workers on Wednesday at Pine Ridge by videotaping them on private property as they discussed the voting process.
It does not accuse him of intimidating voters going to the polls early.
Four Directions Executive Director Bret Healy said Friday evening the intent is to stop intimidation of tribal members.
"It's a two-by-four upside the head to get the attention of the folks that are causing problems," he said. "We want an election that doesn't have this kind of nonsense going on."
Attorney General Larry Long got a copy of the order late Friday afternoon and said he is not sure whether the tribal judge's order can be enforced and how many Republicans it applies to.
"Anyone who's subject to the order, presumably if they go within 100 yards of a polling place on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, they'll be arrested and thrown in jail," he said after reading the order.
"I don't think you can read the order and reach either conclusion" about whether it merely applies to Knutson or all Republican employees and volunteers, Long said.
This weekend, Long plans to try to figure out if the state should file a legal response.
Healy said the order does not preclude Republicans from being at the polls.
"I guess it's only employees of the South Dakota Republican Party. That wouldn't affect volunteer poll watchers," he said.
But Long and Jason Glodt, executive director of the Republican Party, said the way the order is written, it could be applied broadly.
"It limits it to (Sen. Tom) Daschle and Democrat lawyers," Glodt said. "This is a page right out of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) playbook - their pre-emptive strike game plan that their poll watchers are supposed to claim intimidation, even if there's no proof of intimidation."
Glodt said Knutson hasn't worked for the party since early September but acknowledged that someone else was videotaping people in Pine Ridge in response to reports of voter problems.
"They were simply observing problems that were reported. They were not in or anywhere near a polling place," he said. "Our point is what are the Democrats trying to hide? Why don't they want Republican poll watchers in Pine Ridge?"
Healy said if Republicans had heard of voter problems, they should have told the auditor.
"What reports of irregularities?" Healy said. "They ought to report that to the appropriate authorities instead of going out there in vigilante style."
Glodt said the party had not yet decided how to respond.
The incident listed in the court order happened around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Robert Vander-Linden and other committee workers were gathered south of Pine Ridge on the property of PTI, a propane business, as drivers arrived with voter lists. They "were discussing voter turnout issues when a commotion occurred on the described private lands. The Four Directions Committee members turned to see Ryan Knutson videotaping the petitioners," the order states.
When asked what he was doing, Knutson said he was "just doing my job." He drove to a different area of the property but eventually left toward White Clay, Neb.
Vander-Linden and the owners of PTI "were upset by Mr. Knutson's conduct," the document states.
Knutson, "by trespassing on private property, ignoring directives to vacate said property, and videotaping attempts to get out the Indian vote are clearly attempting to chill the Indian vote," it states.
Shannon and Jackson counties comprise the reservation, which has 16,000 residents.
Both major political parties and some campaigns have actively courted Indian voters this year.
Well, since this is where the majority of the fraud happened in 2000, this works out swell for little Tommy, doesn't it?
Bump and the fun continues.
Remember the last Senatorial election in SD? Thune was tied and all of a sudden, votes from one area arrived and were almost all cast for the democrat. It was an area where Thune was expected to have an edge.
This is the same area of the state! Isn't this just swell!
(Ms. Kaiser Sose): "Listen, Short one, do not worry about any threats to our plans.
Did they even touch Sandy Berger or any of us?
We control more than one hundred stolen FBI files
-- I mean 'badges of honor' -- on important officials in your state
so no one will EVER DARE touch any of us.
Now bring out our dead to vote, or I have just three words for you and them."
i've already posted on this. see this thread for what you can do to help http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1262614/posts?page=5
number for the SD Att Gen is there and an e-mail link. let's overload his phone lines please
Well then I guess that we will not count their votes huh!
Looks like the Dead will get to vote again!
This is a US federal election, not a Sioux election. They need to appeal this to the federal courts immediately.
This clown only has this authority if he involks his "independant nation" status.
If that status holds, then participation in "our" election is forsaken.
A good place for FEDERAL election monitors.
Exactly, either they can abide by FEDERAL election rules, or the polling place must be closed; and the indians can vote on state soil, where the laws are observed.
A "tribal judge" decides who can monitor the polls in a FEDERAL election? Will an Iman in Dearborn decree that sharia denies women the vote in this election?
If the Indians are in their own country they shouldn't be voting in U.S. elections.
Then the indians are going to have to go to an off reservation polling place if they wish to participate in federal elections. If the polls can not be observed, then it's safe to say they can not be judged to be fair.
Oh wait, I have an idea. If there can not be republican poll watchers there, perhaps federal marshalls can fill the void.
But if they allow poll watchers, then they couldn't vote as often as they like. People can vote as many times as they like in Chicago and St. Louis, why not the reservations? Doesn't sound fair.
Question: Can anyone explain to me why these f*ck*rs vote democrat?
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