Polling Station Moved Citing Religious Concerns (OH)

[OhioChick]

Orthodox Jews in a Cleveland suburb unhappy they had to vote in a Christian church were relieved the polling place has been moved.

The Cuyahoga County elections board approved Cleveland Heights City Hall as the new polling place on Friday.

The elections board had assigned voters in a neighborhood with a large population of Orthodox Jewish residents to a Christian church after the former spot, a school building, was closed.

Some Orthodox Jews complained, saying they wouldn't feel comfortable going into a place of worship that wasn't their own.

Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley had said the decision to put the polls in a Christian church was "getting close to anti-Semitism."
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/10023949/detail.html

This is a follow-up story to:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2538856

[Gman]

1. Although it was insensitive to put the polling plance in a Christian churc

at least they had the common sense to move it when confronted with the problem.

[havocmom]

2. They gonna do this everywhere people object to venue?

That's gonna be a mess. Setting the stage for everyone to vote in THEIR OWN CHURCH/TEMPLE/SYNAGOGUE? Atheists vote where? Drunks gonna get to vote in bars? Capitalist gonna get to vote in the malls?

Doesn't matter. They will tally the vote the way they want, where ever we vote and regardless of WHO we vote for.

[Ian David]

3. That's a rather insensitive way to look at it.

This was an attempt at voter suppression.

86% of Jews vote Democrat.

So, they put the Jewish neighborhood's polling station inside a christian church with a great big bleeding Jesus hanging on the wall.

[kestrel91316]

4. Next step: fundies bitching and complaining until they get all THEIR

polling places moved INTO fundie churches.

We all know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and they are WAAAYYYYY squeakier than Jews when they get going.

[Ian David]

5. Let's put polling places in abortion clinics and gay bathhouses! n/t

[leQ]

8. *psssst* there are no more gay bathhouses.

[Ian David]

10. Then that's one less thing on my list of "Post-Rapture Things-to-Do" n/t

[sarcasmo]

33. What is the latest date on the Rapture?

Is that Karl Rove's October surprise.

[Ian David]

38. I'm predicting 12:00 noon on January 20, 2009.

When Bush refuses to leave office at the end of his term, due to some kind of "emergency."

[RebelOne]

44. Well, at least it will be 2 days past my birthday.

The best birthday present I could have would be to see all the fundies disappear.

[beyurslf]

14. There are still have gay bathhouses.

[havocmom]

15. There ya GO! I am not being insesitive, but looking down slippery slope

And the view gets pretty damned muddy when you take this to logical conclusions.

[rocktivity]

13. DING DING DING! IanDB1, you're our grand prize winner!

This was an attempt at voter suppression...(T)hey put the Jewish neighborhood's polling station inside a christian church...

Come to think of it, if we're talking about a Jewish neighborhood, isn't there a local synagouge they could have used instead?

:headbang:
rocknation

[havocmom]

16. AND they set precedent. Fundies objection to going to other churches?

Home schoolers objection to going to public schools?

Pretty soon, there are no venues left for polling places... guess we will just have to send ballots to everyone. Sounds fine until you wonder what happens to them upon return to offices with no public allowed to watch.

This is more than just suppression of voting for a block with a high DEM demographic. This is the ticket to not holding elections under public observation.

[Ian David]

37. That is beyond ridiculous, unless you forgot the sarcasm indicator.

Polling places do not belong in a house of worship of any kind.

Period.

I don't believe that there are home-school families who are so offended by the idea of entering a public school building that they fear for their mortal souls.

Every town must have at least a town hall or a library or a fire station or SOMETHING.

In my town, many of the stations are in the public senior citizen housing complexes. Many others are in public schools.

Even the town in Little House on the Prairie had more buildings than just the church.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. And when the Christians are offended because they have to vote

in a temple? How about the atheists who have to vote in a fundie church?

[Ian David]

36. How about we not vote in ANY house of worship?

We have a Separation of Church and State for a reason.

Nobody NEEDS to vote in a church or mosque or synagogue or a shrine to baal.

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. I think that would be best

but do we have public buildings to replace all the churches?

[Ian David]

42. I can't imagine a town without at least ONE non-church public building

School... hospital... fire station... library... town hall... post office... national guard base... trash-transfer station... cable company... shopping mall... senior-citizen home... bus station... VFW Hall...

[Igel]

45. The question is, how far do you want people to have to

go to vote? To walk from the nearest bus stop? How big do you make the districts, when the neighborhood is primarily residential. At what point does the physical inconvenience of the location cause more disenfranchisement than intolerance of other views?

I've worked the polls in a few places, and voted in many others. A college dorm, a sorority house, churches, a library, school auditorium, storage room next to a school cafeteria, senior citizen center, park building. The churches (in Los Angeles and in Oregon) were always made innocuous: once past the sign saying "church", all traces of religion were removed or covered, so not to offend those with low tolerance for such things. They were always chosen to be with a hundred or two hundred feet of a bus stop with good sidewalks and handicapped access. A fellow dorm-resident complained that he had to vote in a church; after the fact, he said that it was ok--once past the sign, there was no evidence he was in a church, and it wasn't in the 'sanctuary' but in the entranceway to the building.

The county I lived in prior to moving to Houston apparently avoided religious places for voting. This was a shame. In one case, it meant voters stopping in before or after work had to contend with school buses and hordes of kids; during lunch time the adjacent room was the school cafeteria, and after school hours it was the band practice room. It was irritating and annoying, parking was a hassle. But we had people that came by bus, including some in wheelchairs and who used walkers or canes, to vote at the two precinct stations in that room. The bus stop was close by, with good sidewalks. Same for when we voted in a school auditorium. The infirm and disabled had no problems, as long as they didn't mind kids. (On edit: I wonder how people with arrests for sex crimes and petitioned to have their voting rights restored managed to vote in elementary and high schools.)

When I worked at the park building across town, there were 4-5 precinct stations, but anybody that didn't ride in a car or cab had a 150 yard walk from the bus stop to the driveway leading to the voting place (road with 40 mph speed limit, no sidewalks, no streetlights, and ditches for the shoulder), then a 100 yard walk down a dirt and gravel road to the parking lot in front of the voting location; the signs marking the limits for campaigning didn't reach a third of the way down the driveway. At least there was a light in the parking lot itself. One time when I worked that place, it rained all day. We could see down the driveway, at least until 5:30 pm or so; nobody arrived on foot. I thought this was the surest way to make sure the carless disabled and poor didn't vote that I'd seen in a long time: Does two-way cab fare count as a poll tax? Oddly, this hell-hole of a voting place was next to a new Islamic center ... close to the road, paved driveway, and with the bus stop right in front. To enfranchise the intolerant, we disenfranchised the poor and disabled. And no, there was no suitable non-religious location available for a good ways in any direction. Every year people complained about this place, every year the elections board looked for a different place, and every year there were again 4-5 precinct stations there.

[ekelly]

43. I agree

No polling place should be in ANY official place of worship.

Keep religion out of government....PERIOD!

[sarahlee]

6. Seems that there are

public elementry schools in just about every neighborhood area in every city, so I think using public schools or buildings is wiser than private churchs or buildings.

[OhioChick]

7. I've always voted

in a public school or library.

[Ian David]

11. I don't think Republicans should be allowed to vote in schools.

They've shown us that Republicans can't be trusted around children.

Or money.

Or our troops.

Or our resources.

Fuck it...

let's kick the Republickers off the planet.

[OhioChick]

12. So true............. nt/

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. Amen!!

LOL

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. They do use public schools

There aren't enough of them.

[havocmom]

30. And school districts/precincts not same boundaries

Can't always find a school where you need a polling place.

In many residential areas, churches are the only place with meeting rooms that could serve for voting.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. Yes the schools will not cover it

We need other public buildings.

[AndyTiedye]

18. Just Don't Put Polling Places in Churches. Period.

Polling places should not be in any house of worship.

To do so disenfranchises those whose religion forbids them to enter another religion's church.

This is even more of an issue now that so many churches have aligned themselves with the Republican party.
Placing a polling place in such a church is tantamount to allowing the Republicans to electioneer in the polling place.

[havocmom]

19. Works for me. But what about schools? Some object to public schools

Then there is the problem of security when lots of the public hits a campus all on the same day.

See what I am saying? This has laid ground work for all sorts of complaints about polling places.

I am so old, I remember when some polling places were in private homes in some areas where there was not many public access buildings.

How long before commercial properties start bidding for polling places in their establishments?

Slippery slope ahead

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. So where should they go?

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I agree

There aren't that many public places to choose from. This is an example of political correctness run amok.

[ikojo]

9. MANY polling places in St Louis City and St Louis

County are in Catholic schools. I used to vote in the gymnasium of a neighborhood Catholic school. I didn't pay attention to whether there was a crucifix or not, I just voted (Democratic). I moved in 2005 and my polling place is now an old folks home populated primarily by elderly Jews.

BTW, I think many orthodox Jews tend to vote Republican because they are big on school vouchers given that most of their kids attend private Jewish schools.

[KittyWampus]

17. So Orthodox Jews can be bigots too! The polls are NOT IN SANCTUARIES

the polls are not in the sanctuary where people worship.

They are in the community halls where social functions, AA meetings and Daycare happens.

Even small towns might have a few precincts... and after the school house and/or firehouse that often leaves a church's COMMUNITY HALL.

In the end, this proves that every religion has its share of bigoted assholes.

[havocmom]

20. Good point about smaller towns

There are places where venue is limited. If every religious group gets to have polling places moved because they don't want to use other churchs' facilities, election officials will be so busy with grievances and law suits they cannot do much to assure decently honest elections.

One more diversion? I do believe so.

[POAS]

21. I lived in this neighborhood

for a number of years. It is heavily Orthodox and the City Hall is a short walk from the church in question. I see no reason that the church should have been considered over City hall in the first place.

[knitter4democracy]

27. I thought that, too.

We lived down on Noble and drove by there all the time. Why the church? City Hall's right there.

[POAS]

29. Did they close the Jewish Community Center?

If not that should also have been considered, of course being across the road it may be in a different precinct.

[KittyWampus]

28. Is City Hall closed on Election Day?

[POAS]

34. It may be closed for city business but

that would make it an ideal location considering parking and traffic.

[cmd]

26. 24 of 81 precincts in my county vote at church facilities

We're a rural county where churches as often the only handicapped accessible sites available. There has never been a problem.

[Doremus]

32. We used to vote in a carpet store.

I always wondered who on the BoE knew the carpet store owner ... and how much kickback he got for the extra business generated.

Anyway, I live 10 minutes from Cleveland Hts. First choice for polling place should always be a public building. Houses of worship shouldn't even be ON the list, imo.

Stores and other commercial ventures shouldn't either, unless they're giving some kick-ass discounts to voters.
:rofl:

[hayu_lol]

35. For those who don't want to go here...or there...or someplace else...

get your state to emulate Oregon with it's 100% vote by mail. Not only has it been trouble free to date, but voter participation has increased considerably.

Also helps when the voter's handbook is large, as Oregon's usually is due to citizen initiatives. You sit down at your table, desk, whatever and carefully read and decide...then mark your ballot.

Beats the heck out of going to a precinct without any idea of what you want to vote on or for. In the bad old days, I always made a list of who and what I was voting for. Got in and out very quickly that way and was sure that I voted the way I wanted to.

Oh yeah, pencils and paper.

[patrick t. cakes]

41. mosques are big

why not vote there?

seriously.