Judge Rebukes Florida's Top Election Official in Ballot Case

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

A federal judge on Saturday issued a scathing rebuke to Florida's top election official in an order cancelling a hearing on a lawsuit over vote-by-mail ballots.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker accused Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner of delaying a hearing on the lawsuit "so that he could use every second available to run out the clock" so there wouldn't be enough time to address problems raised in the lawsuit. The judge also said Detzner's actions amounted to an "undeclared war' on the right to vote in Florida, the largest swing state in the presidential election.

The judge in Tallahassee, Florida said he will make a decision on the lawsuit without a hearing that had been set for Monday.

"This court will not allow the Florida Secretary of State — a high-level officer of the State of Florida — to take a knee and deprive Florida citizens of their most precious right," Walker said in his order.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-rebukes-floridas-top-election-official-ballot-case-42829501

---

By MIKE SCHNEIDER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. — Oct 15, 2016, 3:11 PM ET

[Scurrilous]

1. Good news!

K & R

[csziggy]

5. Good news that the judge is pissed off - NOT good news for voters

Since so many vote by mail ballots are already in the hands of local supervisors of elections any delay could result in thousands losing their votes.

Not quoted from the article linked in the OP:

The lawsuit filed by the Florida Democratic Party says thousands of vote-by-mail ballots are rejected each election because signatures on a voter's ballot envelope and registration file don't match. Under Florida law, a vote-by-mail ballot must have a signature to be counted.

County canvassing boards rejected more than 23,000 ballots in the 2012 presidential election, according to the lawsuit.

While voters who forget to sign their ballots are given the opportunity to fix that, voters whose signatures don't match aren't, and they should be given the same opportunity to "cure" any signature problems, according to the lawsuit.

The judge should have simply ordered that EVERY voter should get the chance to prove their signatures are theirs. Otherwise those thousands of Democratic vote by mail ballots that we have been rejoicing over might be thrown out.

This is why I prefer to vote in person - any question that might arise can be asked of me in person at the time and I will have the chance to appeal immediately. With the way vote by mail ballots are being handled many voters - 23,000 in 2012 - lose their right to vote without ever knowing it.

[LisaL]

7. I also prefer to vote in person. But a lot of people can't vote in person.

Signature "not matching" is a ridiculous reason to throw out a ballot. Person's signature can change over time. And who decides if it matches or not? 23,000 is a lot of people who lost their vote. Gore lost Florida by less than 1,000 to put this into perspective.

[csziggy]

8. I may be at the point of not being able to vote in person some day

So I do want that alternative to be reliable for voters.

And signature not matching - give me a break! At my age and with the things that have happened to my hands and arms my signature can change from minute to minute. Recently I had three documents I had to sign - my signature is different on each of them. I know it's going to get worse since arthritis is starting to set in.

So I want the Florida Democratic Party to win this - every vote should be counted!

[reggaehead]

9. I vote absentee in CA

But I always drop it off at the polling station. I just don't like the voting machines

[LisaM]

10. Washington state does mail only voting.

Thousands of votes get tossed. I hate the system.

[cstanleytech]

2. To bad the title wasnt "Judges Issues Contempt Citation to Florida Secretary of State."

One can but hope I guess.

[NastyRiffraff]

3. Good for Judge Walker

Florida officials are very good at "running out the clock" to affect an election. Anyone remember 2000?

[TonyPDX]

4. Good for Judge Walker. Secretary of State Detzner is obviously a thieving p.o.s.

[nikto]

6. Ken Detzner is just doing his standard GOP job

That's all the GOP is about anymore ----

Pure Fraud on the outside,
with
an empty moral core.

[dmr]

11. Good!

Damn Republicans.