Thursday, September 30, 2004

Blackwell Ends Paper Chase
A new article in The Columbus Dispatch reveals that the Republican Secretary of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell, has recanted his directive to boards of election regarding the paperweight of voter registration forms. This month, Blackwell had called on the boards to refuse any forms not printed on 80-pound cardstock. This had the potential of disenfranchising those new voters who submitted forms too close to the October 4 deadline to recieve notification that their application was not accepted and they must send another on proper paper.

The Dispatch writes:

Critics charged that the confusion and inconsistency threatened to prevent
tens of thousands of wouldbe voters from participating in the general election
and could trigger lawsuits challenging the results. They also blasted Blackwell
for issuing the directive less than a month before Ohio's voter registration
deadline and at a time when elections officials are working aroundthe-clock to
keep up with recordsmashing registration efforts in a presidential battleground
state.

...

Last night, a spokesman for Blackwell denied that the GOP officeholder was
trying to prevent people from voting and said county boards should accept voter
registration forms on paper of any weight as long as they are otherwise valid.

"We're not the paper police. We're not going to go to county election
boards and review voter registration forms," said Blackwell spokesman Carlo
LoParo. "We want them to process the forms."

Blackwell Rulings Rile Voting Advocates
The Republican Secretary of State in Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, is coming under fire for recent decisions regarding the Nov. 2 election. Voters-rights advocates are targeting Blackwell for issuing edicts to county boards of elections regarding:

• Voter registration applications be accepted only if on thick, 80-pound paper
  
• Boards should interpret vague provisions so as to bar voters from casting provisional ballots if they accidentally go to the wrong princinct.

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.

Sometimes people get to a voting place and find that their names aren't on the list of those who are permitted to vote there. This might happen because the person is in the wrong place, or because the records are in error. Sometimes "provisional" ballots are issued, to be judged later as to whether they are valid. ...

...

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is saying, however, that the state can only provide provisional ballots to voters who are in the correct precinct. ...

...

Other states, however, including Pennsylvania, allow for ballots to be provided to some people who are in the wrong precinct. The League of Women Voters and others want Ohio to do that, too. (The votes cast in purely local races where the voter doesn't live would not be counted.)