Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by
not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new
voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled tonight.
It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than
safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the
United States,” said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in
Columbus, in upholding the Ohio Republican Party’s request for a court
order.
Smith, appointed by President Reagan, said the Help America Vote Act
requires states not only to verify the identity of newly registered
voters with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the federal Social
Security Administration, but to provide counties with the names of new
voters whose records did not match.
Brunner’s office had been doing the verification but had not made the
names available to county elections boards. The judge gave her a week
to comply.
However, the judge said he lacked the authority to order the counties
to clean up the voter rolls once they had the list.
Smith cited the “millions of qualified electors across the state of
Ohio whose
confidence in the electoral process will be undermined if new voter
registrations are not verified in accordance with HAVA, and if
unqualified individuals are permitted to cast votes. This would demean
the voting process and unlawfully dilute the votes of qualified
voters.”
Brunner’s office said she is filing an immediate appeal with the 6th
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.
“My office will do everything within its power to ensure that the
state’s 88 county boards of elections can continue to allow early
voting to proceed uninterrupted and to assist them with their
preparation to ensure a smooth election for the voters of Ohio,” she
said in a statement.
Smith said speed is necessary because next Thursday is the deadline to
challenge absentee voters; on Oct. 25 elections workers can remove
ballots from envelopes that contain the only identifying information
about who cast them.
He specifically cited questionable activity of one group that
registered thousands of new Ohio voters: the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine said the ruling
spoke volumes about Brunner, a Democrat.
“Her refusal to comply with federal law raises serious concerns about
her ability to objectively oversee this election. It's especially
troubling in light of her connection to ACORN and that group's
stunning confession this week of fraudulent registration activity
happening right here in Ohio,” he said.
http://blog.dispatch.com/politics/2008/10/brunner_must_check_for_voter_f.shtml
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
