Fulton Co. is colluding with Blackwell to supress the vote: email response

[goodboy]

HAVA says we have to provide provisional ballots according to your state
laws and our state laws provide for provisional voting and provisional
voting is for people who have moved within the 30 days prior to elections
that were registered in their old precinct/county, not just for
presidential, but for all the candidates and issues. There is nothing set
up for just presidential voting at the precincts and no law providing for
that so a voter would be able to vote on everything that is on the ballot
for a precinct that he is voting in. So, like I said before, would you want
someone to come into your precinct and vote on your issues that would not
affect him/her??
It is a practicality issue, we are doing everything we can through our
office to give the voter a chance to vote. Some of the responsibility falls
on the voter to get to the right precinct, we can't do it all.

Fulton County Board of Elections
Gloria Marlatt, Director
Kathy Meyer, Deputy Director
419-335-6841 (phone)
419-337-2363 (fax)

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. I guess things are different in Ohio because I agree with Fulton County

Personally, it's a good idea not to allow people who don't live in the precinct to vote on local issues. Do you understand this goodboy? Do you realize that ballots are different from municipality to municipality on election day? If you go to the wrong precinct, you can't vote for your own local commissioners because they won't have the correct ballots. Do you understand that?

On edit: In addition, if a person insists that he moved into the precinct within the last 30 days (or even longer, but he doesn't show up in the data base) He can still get a provisional ballot and vote. I really don't see the issue here.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

2. Not according to Ken Blackwell...

He's saying "no" to provisional ballots.

The simple solution would be to have separate provisional ballots that have only candidates and issues that are valid for the entire county. That way you can't have people hopping the border to vote on "hot button" issues the don't effect them directly.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. The provisional ballots are important.

They should be provided if a voter insists he is in the correct precinct. Blackwell is wrong to deny them. BUT, if the voter knows he's in the wrong precint, then this is a non-issue. He should not vote there under any circumstances. That is a felony.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

4. You're allowed to vote in your precinct of residence...

regardless of whether you're on the voting rolls for that precinct (but you must be registered in the country). What I'm hearing from Columbus is that Blackwell isn't going to allow any provisional ballots for any reason. I would think there would be ample grounds for a lawsuit, since he made the announcement long past the time when voters could be reasonably expected to get Change-of-Address Forms back to the County BOE's.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Not to mention that this is in direct contrast from what the Supreme

Court ruled in Bush v. Gore.

[BQueen]

6. Usual Repug Misdirection Tactic

It's not about voting-- it's about counting the votes. They take the frigging provisional ballot to determine if the voter is a valid county resident for purposes of local issues. If not, then you don't count their vote for local issues or candidates (even statewide if that's what Ohio regs say--although that would be suckful, imho)...then they COUNT the votes for the presidential (and Senate, if HAVA specifically applies to that too) race in order to comply with HAVA -- Voi-friggin-la. How difficult is that?

I refuse to believe that it is impossible to construe these two laws in concert so that effect is given to the intent of each without undue crossing of traditional state vs fed powers boundaries -- which is generally the rule in statutory construction and conflict of laws/federal pre-emption cases. (If they're actually going to prosecute people for a Felony for trying to vote when they moved more than 30 days before the election and thought they were registered....well, I have no words...)


I'll get more on the specific statutes involved, but here's a link to the Ohio League of Women Voters press release on the lawsuit, which is a good explanation.

http://www.lwvohio.org/advocacy/press/sos2.html