Portrait of a country on the verge of a nervous breakdown

[Zorra]

24 October 2004
snip------
In Ohio and Florida, it is the Republican secretaries of state - who oversee elections - who have been accused of putting partisan preference above their solemn civic duties. Ohio's Ken Blackwell won points from voting rights activists earlier in the year when he chose not to go ahead with a massive state-wide buy of electronic voting machines. Since then, however, he has tried to insist that all voter registration forms be submitted on 80lb stock paper - a ruling struck down by the courts after he was accused of blatantly attempting to suppress the votes of likely Democrats.

He has also tried to make life harder for provisional voters, saying their ballots will be recognized only if they show up at exactly the right precinct. This too was struck down in court because it was deemed likely to suppress votes - especially among transient students and low-income workers. But Secretary Blackwell has continued to implement the policy in defiance of the court order, prompting a harsh rebuke from the judge.

In Florida, Secretary of State Glenda Hood has been repeatedly accused of doing the political bidding of the man who appointed her - Governor Jeb Bush, the President's brother. Her more recent exploits include directing county supervisors to throw out registration forms where applicants have signed a statement declaring they are US citizens but have forgotten to check a citizenry box elsewhere on the form. This, too, is seen as a vote-suppressing mechanism. It, too, is now in the courts.

Secretary Hood has also been waging a months-long campaign to ban what limited manual recounts the electronic voting machines permit. Her initial ruling was struck down by the courts, but now she has come up with a staggeringly devious rewrite. The state will now permit analysis of the computerized machines' internal audit logs in the event of a close race, she said, but if there is any discrepancy the county supervisors are to go with the original count. In other words: we will do recounts, but if the recounts change the outcome we will disregard them.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=575453

[Catt03]

1. I hope, wish and pray that Florida Democrats vote by the

thousands and thousands and there can be no question about Florida.

That ignorant woman....I've already gone thru an election with one ignorant, arrogant, blatantly partisan "Secretary of State" and can't take another.

Note: Any other state have a Secretary of State or is that an original Jeb Bush thing? (Katherine Harris was Sup of Elections and they ditched that title for Sec of State).

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Both Minnesota and Oregon have the office of secretary of state, and

that person is in charge of administering elections.

[jimshoes]

2. A federal appeals court overturned

the earlier ruling on provisional ballots and let Blackwell's edict stand. The dems decided not to appeal at this late date. Here's a link to today's Plain Dealer article.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1098611140146420.xml