Blackwell defies judge's revision of voting rules

[spotbird]

MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell said Thursday he would rather go to jail than rewrite his guidelines on out-of-precinct voters -- even when ordered to by a federal judge.

"Some of the best writing in history has been done from jail," Blackwell said, invoking the names of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the apostle Paul. "I wasn't going to write a directive that I believe violates Ohio law."

*skip*

On Wednesday, as part of a lawsuit brought by Democrats, a federal judge in Toledo rewrote a Blackwell directive on so-called "provisional" ballots. U.S. District Judge James G. Carr mandated election workers in Ohio allow residents of a county to cast a presidential vote in any precinct in that county, regardless of where they live.


*more*

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20041022/localnews/1458451.html

Of all the creepy things the right is doing the open defiance of court orders ranks in the top ten.

Do you think Gandhi and Rev. King would support Secretary Blackwell's defiance of authority to stop voting? What a pig.

[asthmaticeog]

1. I hope he goes to jail, too.

Never mind the electoral chicanery, he deserves to be confined for comparing himself to Ghandi, Dr. King and Paul.

[arwalden]

23. Here He Is... All Smug. (Is He On Dope?)

[maddezmom]

2. throw him in jail

:)

[arwalden]

22. Put Him In With James Traficant

[Philostopher]

3. Okay, that's it -- he's now officially reached 'scumbag' in my book.

I never thought much of him, he started out as a turncoat -- going from Dem to Goop when he'd proved himself a successful fundraiser with Dems -- but of all the fucking slime I've ever heard, that Ken Blackwell is comparing himself with Martin Luther King ... when all this jockeying around is for the sole purpose of making it difficult or intimidating for black people in Ohio to vote ... GRRRRR!

[amber dog democrat]

4. call the paddy wagon - lock him up.

Hitler wrote Mien Kampf in Spandau Prison too..... don't forget that.

[spotbird]

6. Good point. nt

[leftchick]

5. Throw him in the Slammer!!

that man is dispicable! :grr:

[The Magistrate]

7. Then The Good Judge, Ma'am, Must Send Him To Jail

The wretch leaves him no choice but to do so....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Cocoa]

8. his audience was the Chamber of Commerce

who are famous for their reverence of Gandhi and King.

[Sideways]

9. Snarf ...The CoC Would Only Recognize/ Revere Gandhi & King

If they were two guys opening up a curry and ribs joint. Blackwell is the classic "pull up the ladder I'm on board" SOB.

[TomClash]

10. Fine the State of Ohio $1m a day payable on each day . . .

. . . and you can bet that Blackwell will soon be allowing voters to vote in any convenient district.

[Zorra]

11. Remember this? Ohio Secretary of State Blocks New Voter Registrations

Blackwell's office has told county boards of elections to follow strictly two provisions in Ohio election law:

One requires Ohio voter registration cards be printed on thick, 80-pound stock paper.

The other ordered boards to strictly interpret the rules regarding provisional ballots, the ones cast by voters who move before the election but are still registered in Ohio.

The paper-stock issue is frustrating Montgomery County Board of Elections officials, who have a backlog of registrations to complete. If they get an Ohio voter registration card on paper thinner than required, they are mailing a new card out to the voter. But if they still have the backlog by the registration deadline, Oct. 4, voters will not have another chance to get their correct paperwork in, said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County board.

"There is just no reason to use 80-pound paper," Harsman said.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/092904W.shtml

Blackwell has tried every trick in the book to lower voter turnout and to make sure that vote counts are not verifiable.

Who does he think he's kidding?

Oh, yeah - 47% of Bu$h supporters still think that Iraq had WMD at the start of the war, and that Iraq was responsible for the attack on 9/11.

[yellowcanine]

12. Uhhh - MLK was trying to help people vote, not hinder them."

He has some nerve invoking MLK.

[Just Me]

13. How dare the S.O.B. invoke Gandhi and MLK!!!

I hope his butt does in up behind bars. Jerk!!!

[TolDem]

14. I just called his office.

I offered to drive him to prison and the person in the office was very polite. Even thanked me for the call.

[leftchick]

15. lol... excellent!

Welcome to DU TolDem!

:toast:

[TolDem]

21. Thanks!!

:hi:

Blackwell's shot his chance at governor by this, I think.

[Supersedeas]

16. A directive that he believed did not violate--now he KNOWS violates OH law

I agree, open defiance of the law should give true conservatives serious reservations.

[zbdent]

17. Some of the best writing in history has been done from jail

I remember that Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in jail, too . . .

You throw an infinite number of monkeys into a room with an infinite number of typewriters and you get billions and billions of conservative hack writers . . .

[depakid]

18. Arrest him NOW

There's no excuse for defying a federal judge's order, especially not in this case. If we can't crack down on racketeers like this, then our country isn't worth very much, is it?

[Supersedeas]

24. laws apply to underlings - not to smug little Rethugs

[PROGRESSIVE1]

19. Send the Feds in and Arrest this Traitor!!!!!

[Sideways]

20. Where Are The Patriot Act Goons When WE Need Them?

Probably too busy sniffing through THKs undies.

[hughee99]

25. I'm sorry but...

I think that allowing voters to vote in any precinct is just asking for voter fraud. I don't agree with what Blackwell is doing, but I also don't agree with the court's decision. If you can't make it to your polling place, you should have requested an absentee ballot. If it's too late for that, get off your ass and go to your polling place. Part of being an informed voter is to know where that is.

[Maeve]

26. But provisional ballots must be verified before counting

There can be mixups in where someone belongs and on a busy election day that could become a major problem. The judge's intention is to allow provisional ballots to be given to those who cannot be easily sent to their proper precinct, subject to verification that they are registered and that they haven't voted already.

State law allows this; Blackwell is trying to limit it. As Hubby says, "I wouldn't vote for Blackwell for dog catcher."

[LiberalFighter]

27. Ruling does not provide voter to vote for anything other than president

As long as the voter is registered at the address they are living and in some cases if they have recently moved they should be allowed to vote for president in any precinct and it is verified they are registered.

A voter will not be able to vote more than once by this procedure unless the election board are total idiots.

[hughee99]

28. And that is my concern...

that the election board is full of idiots, or even worse, corrupt. I don't necessarily have a problem with the concept of voting in another precinct, it's just that I can see where corrupt/incompetent election officials may not realize or care that someone has voted in multiple districts. Someone who casts multiple ballots is also disenfranchising all of us to some degree, by having their "votes" count more then our vote.

[LiberalFighter]

29. Then be a witness...

and ask questions about the process locally

[Laelth]

31. I think you have to trust ...

the election officials and poll workers to be honest and fair. Otherwise, all of democracy is a farce. What the judge did, in this case, was to say "let 'em vote. Sort out whether they voted multiple times later." No problem with that, ultimately. It's better than saying "don't let 'em vote."

What kind of country do we live in when you can disenfranchise yourself on a technicality (like the weight of paper used to register)? That's not what democracy is about, that's not what the framers intended, and it's outrageous to insist on the letter of the law when fundamental principles of democracy are at stake. Blackwell may even be right. It might be against Ohio law to allow a provisional ballot outside of one's home precinct. But what the judge said was, "Who cares? The right to vote is more important than that stupid, technical, Ohio law."

At least, that's what it sounds like to me. Time to lock up Blackwell for contempt of court. Hope he brings some extra paper with him so he can get writing.

:dem:

Kerry on!

-Laelth

[gardenista]

30. Sounds like he wants a lil' writer's retreat. What a self-important dweeb

[GOTV]

32. After this election...

... whoever wins, we in Ohio have to get Blackwell out of office.