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Judge Says Ohio Must Allow Provisional Ballots

Posted by timothy on from the turn-the-other-stile dept.

expriest writes "A Federal Judge has held that the state of Ohio must provide a provisional ballot to persons who claim to be registered, but whose names do not appear on the voter rolls. This decision reverses a policy by Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who was only allowing the provisional ballots in limited circumstances. Furthermore, the Judge put some teeth behind his ruling, allowing persons denied provisional ballot to sue the election official so doing for money damages."

3 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Ken Blackwell is a douchebag by expriest · · Score: 5, Informative

    Blackwell, the Ohio Secretary of State who got shot down here is working hard to be the new Kathrine Harris. He previously attempted to tear up voter registrations because they were printed on the wrong thickness of paper. And of course who could forget this absentee ballot, which for some reason omitted the Democratic candidates.

  2. Re:good by brilinux · · Score: 4, Informative
    told they had to have a driver's liscence to vote. an obvious lie

    I do not know how it is down there, but in Virginia, you do need a Driver's Liscence to vote if you did not have your voter's card. That is how they checked off that you had actaully voted and made sure that it was you who was voting.

  3. 'MARY POPPINS' REGISTERS TO VOTE IN OHIO by DAldredge · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/REGISTRATIO N_SCAM?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEF AULT

    DEFIANCE, Ohio (AP) -- Elections officials knew something was wrong when they got voter registration cards for Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy, Michael Jordan and George Foreman.

    They notified the Defiance County sheriff, who arrested Chad Staton on Monday on a felony charge of submitting phony voter registration forms. Investigators also were looking into allegations that he was paid with cocaine in exchange for his efforts.

    Staton, 22, had fraudulently filled out more than 100 voter registration forms, Sheriff David Westrick said.

    "Staton was to be paid for each registration form that he could get citizens to fill out," the sheriff said. "However, Staton himself filled out the registrations and returned them to the woman who hired him from Toledo."

    Staton was charged with false registration and was released without bond pending arraignment.

    No other charges had been filed in the case Monday, authorities said.

    According to Westrick, the NAACP's National Voter Fund had submitted the false registrations to the elections board in Cleveland. George Forbes, Cleveland chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Monday that the voter fund operates independently from his chapter.

    Officers said they interviewed a Toledo woman who claimed that she had paid Staton with cocaine for the registrations. Officers said they obtained a search warrant and took voter registrations and drug paraphernalia from her home.

    The woman claimed she had been recruited by a Cleveland man to obtain voter registrations, Westrick said.