MAJOR GOP FEDERAL COURT VICTORY IN OHIO MEANS ELECTION CHAOS

[Jcrowley]

Will a shocking new GOP court victory and Karl Rove's attack on Ohio 2006 doom the Democrats nationwide?
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
October 30, 2006

COLUMBUS---With a major GOP federal court victory, the Ohio 2006 election has descended into the calculated chaos that has become the trademark of a Karl Rove election theft, and that could help keep the Congress in Republican hands nationwide.

Through a complex series of legal maneuvers, and now a shocking new decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the GOP has thrown Ohio's entire process of voting and vote counting into serious disarray. The mess is perfectly designed to suppress voter turnout, make election monitoring and a recount impossible, and allow the Republican Party to emerge with a victory despite overwhelming evidence the electorate wants exactly the opposite.

<snip>

In brief, HB3 stacked a virtually impossible set of requirements onto the voter registration process. As elsewhere nationwide, voting has traditionally involved citizens coming to the polls and signing a poll book. Upon a signature check from a poll worker, a ballot has been given. A similar process has been in effect for absentee ballots. There is no recent evidence this method has encouraged significant voter fraud.

But the GOP's HB3 has imposed a series of draconian requirements for voter ID, including the demand for certain documents very difficult to obtain by many poor, homeless, elderly or other largely Democratic demographic groups.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/2204

The definitive question hovering over the future of American democracy thus remains: who will do what about it, and when?

[redqueen]

1. Nationwide?

How would this situation in OH doom the dems nationwide?

Guess I should read it, huh?

[Jcrowley]

2. Severe election problems seen in ten states

Severe election problems seen in ten states
by Jason Leopold
October 27, 2006

A nonpartisan organization tracking election reform across the United States released a report Wednesday warning that 10 states are likely to experience severe problems on November 7 because of electronic voting machines and new voter identification laws that could call into question the results of some races.

"The November 7 election promises to bring more of what voters have come to expect since the 2000 election - a divided body politic, an election system in flux and the possibility - if not certainty - of problems at polls nationwide," the report says.

Electionline.org issued a 75-page report, "Election Preview 2006: What's Changed, What Hasn't, and Why," which claims that a handful of the midterm election's hotly contested campaigns in states such as Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida and Indiana may face particular trouble because of the transition to electronic voting machines. The machines have been proven unreliable in choosing the right candidate, as demonstrated by numerous tests cases in the years that the machines have replaced paper ballots.

"This was supposed to be the year - and the election - when the voting process nationwide was more secure, more technologically advanced and more trusted by the citizens and candidates participating," Electionline.org said in a summary of its report. "Yet as the mid-term elections approach, machine failures, database delays and foul-ups, inconsistent procedures, new rules and new equipment have some predicting chaos at the polls at worst and widespread polling place snafus at best."

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/2200

Hope for the best prepare for the worst. Free Press has an abundance of articles up at present on the coming election. Worth checking into.

[redqueen]

6. I can't deal with all this $#*(!

This $#^( is &@%^(*~ criminal.

:nuke:

[Jcrowley]

7. We shouldn't have to

but we do. Best to remain vigilant. It'll only go away through our actions. It can be maddening.

Peace

[asthmaticeog]

3. Some of the conteseted house seats that *could* go to Dems are in Ohio.

A supressed Dem vote in Ohio could undermine our chances of a House majority, and keep DeWine in the Senate, as well.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

4. This CANNOT stand!

But the GOP's HB3 has imposed a series of draconian requirements for voter ID, including the demand for certain documents very difficult to obtain by many poor, homeless, elderly or other largely Democratic demographic groups.

To further complicate matters, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, who is now in charge of the same election in which he is the GOP nominee for governor, has added some additional, entirely arbitrary disqualifying factors of his own. Blackwell was the state co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in the 2004 election, which he also ran while making the key decisions that gave Bush-Cheney a second term in the White House.

On all absentee ballots, HB3 demands an identifying driver's license number, or the equivalent. But Ohio driver's licenses have two codes on them. The "correct" one has two letters and six numbers. The "wrong" one is an eleven-number bureaucratic code that appears above the ID photo.

According to preliminary reports, as many as ten percent of those sending in absentee ballots so far have included the wrong code, thus disqualifying their vote. The process is so confusing that one Republican federal judge, in a
court proceeding, has volunteered the fact that he actually put this same "wrong" number on an application for a rental car, temporarily nullifying his contract. Here in Columbus, Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder estimates that 5000 ballots would already be disqualified in Franklin County alone.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/2204

[truebrit71]

5. This is bullshit and needs to be challenged immediately...

,

[SallyMander]

8. If you live in Ohio PLEASE

go to videothevote.org and sign up to help on election day!! We need people documenting incidents of disenfranchisement... just a few hours of your time on election day could make all the difference!

[secular humanoid]

9. what is HB3?

what is HB3?