GOP to put challengers in black voting precincts

[drfemoe]

Critics call strategy intimidation
By SHELDON S. SHAFER
[e-mail]
The Courier-Journal

Jefferson County Republicans intend to place Election Day challengers at 59 voting precincts in predominantly black neighborhoods, a move that NAACP leaders yesterday called blatant intimidation.

The GOP election workers, most of whom live outside the targeted precincts in western and central Louisville, Portland and Newburg, will be on hand to challenge voters who they suspect aren't eligible.

Jefferson County GOP Chairman Jack Richardson IV said the precincts were chosen at random or because the Republican Party has had trouble finding registered voters in those areas to serve as election workers. The challengers, who will receive the same training as precinct workers, could fill in if needed.

Richardson said the precincts weren't chosen because of their racial makeup or voting patterns. Using challengers is a "legal, proper and permissible" way to ensure that voters are bona fide, he said.

... continued

http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/10/23ky/wir-front-votes1023-9144.html

[wrkclskid]

1. Haha

Had a hard time finding registered Republicans in the district uh? Perhaps that explains why they are predominantly Dem. Oh wait, that would make too much sense. It must be that us rotten liberals are forcing poor black people to vote against the law. Yeah, that's it.

[Padraig18]

2. Ehhhh

While I dislike the racial focus of it, speaking as a Democrat who has served as a poll (precinct) watcher in some strongly Repuke precincts, I'm not sure it bothers me too greatly. If the simple presence of a member of the opposite party is so intimidating that you won't vote, it makes me question how strongly committed you were in the first place...

[drfemoe]

3. ehhhhh

It isn't just a presence .. did you read the article?

"Those challenged must sign an oath swearing they are valid voters. Anyone who refuses won't be allowed to vote unless an election officer decides the challenge is unwarranted, said Walter Cato, a Democrat and one of the four members of the Jefferson County Board of Elections." snipped

[Padraig18]

4. That's exactly how it works in IL, too.

Yes, I read it. So, swear the damned oath and get on with voting.:eyes:

[Mairead]

5. You're missing the point of the exercise

Which is to limit the number of votes cast by slowing down the process as much as possible. They did this in 2K and 2002, and, if I recall correctly, there were credible (i.e., 3rd party) reports of physical intimidation as well.

[Padraig18]

7. I'm not missing the point

What they're doing is perfectly legal under KY law. Democrats do it, too.

[Mairead]

9. So are you on the GOP's side, then?

When you airily dismiss the issue with an eyerolled 'so, swear the damned oath and get on with voting' it's obvious that you either don't get that such challenges cannot be dismissed in zero time, or you don't care that some Black folk won't get to vote because of the cumulative effect of all the challenges. Which is it?

[Padraig18]

10. It's hardly obvious.

The point you *continue* to ignore is that it is PERFECTLY LEGAL; you ignore the additional point that Democrats do the exact same thing, as I can vouch for first-hand. If you are in line or inside the precinct itself, you can vote, even if it's past closing time, so yes, sign the damned oath and get on with it!

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AP]

15. Speaking of the rule of law, the rule of law with challengers...

...is that they need to know the identity of everyone in the precinct, or they need to know the identity of the person they're challenging.

I hope they follow that rule. However, I suspect that the whole purpose of having them is not to follow that rule.

[Padraig18]

18. It's simple mental bullying.

Show your ID, then tell them to f*ck off and be about the business of voting... :hi:

[Mairead]

6. And once again the Dems fail to come through for Black folk!

Republicans filed a list of the challengers and precincts with the Jefferson County Board of Elections. Democrats have filed no list and say they have no plans to use challengers.

They should absolutely have a challenger at every predominantly-GOP precinct and use them.

Talk about handing it to them on a platter, furrfu!

[AP]

13. No no no no! I agree with your other posts. However, having Dem-sponsored

challengers is NOT the answer. You don't want to challenge the suspected Repulbican voters. It'll just slow things dow more.

What I'd do is challenge the challengers. You need to read the challenger statutue. I believe the challenger has to base their decision to challenge based on their knowledge of the person's identity. You have to be familiar with the people in the district and know that you haven't seen someone before. I'd have someone look at the person's ID and see where they live. If they don't live in the community, then challenge them.

You don't need to be a challeger to do that. There's another category most states have, and that's an election observer. If the Democrats really care abou this they'll register observers not challengers, and they'll use the observers to "challenge" the challengers.

I have been a challenger for the the Dem party because they ran out of the form for applying to be an observer at the last minute. It was for a district about 4 miles from my own. The party said absolutely DO NOT challenge anyone unless it's totally obvious (eg, the person was my next door neighbor for years an I knew they were registered in that district). They told me I was there to observe, not to challenge.

[Mairead]

16. What am I missing here, then?

The GOP election workers, most of whom live outside the targeted precincts in western and central Louisville, Portland and Newburg, will be on hand to challenge voters who they suspect aren't eligible.

Jefferson County GOP Chairman Jack Richardson IV said the precincts were chosen at random or because the Republican Party has had trouble finding registered voters in those areas to serve as election workers.

It doesn't sound to me as though these guys need to know anyone at all in the precinct they're going to be in. What it sounds like is that these are Dem-/Black-majority precincts, the challengers will be White GOP, and the whole thing is a twiddle. What am I missing?

[AP]

19. The statute establishing the rights of election challengers sets out what

they can do.

You can simply show up and challenge people.

Different states have different rules.

You need to look up the law and see what it authorizes and fight it that way.

I think the person who wrote the article knows the law and that's why they note that the challengers are from other precincts.

You don't have to be from the precinct to be a challenger. The fact is, these people won't be doing any challenging (for the reasons I noted -- they won't know who's from where).

They're just going to be there to intimidate people.

Rehnquist was a challenger when he was in law school and he actually harassed latinos.

[gottaB]

8. What can be done to counter them?

As Mairead said, the state party hasn't planned on positioning challengers of their own. That's a real let down. What can we do to influence the Kentucky Dems?

Can Dems outside the state get involved as challengers? What are the legalities of challenging the challengers? Any Democrats in Kentucky know about this?

[AP]

14. see my post above.

Challengers have a very narrowly defined authority (by statute). Registering challengers would only give you the authority to challenge voters, which slows the process up more. In a predominant Dem district, you wouldn't have anything to do.

However, the statute setting out the authority of the challengers is very clear. Most states say that you can't challenge someone unless you (1) know the person you're challenging lives in another district or (2) you know EVERYONE in the district and you've never seen the person you're challenging.

Both of those situations are easy to prove. If someone is challenging you, you ask them where you live. If they don't know, then the only way they can challenge you is if they know everyone else in the room.

You can have election observers perform the function of asking this question, which is a second category which is allowed. Call your Dem party if you want to be an observer.