Statement: Ohio Dem Party Chair Re 80-Pound Voter Reg Card Directive

[troublemaker]

Pretty tame (IMO), but given the level of interest I figure it's worth posting here as an update.
http://www.ohiodems.org/
_________________________________

Statement from Ohio Democratic Party Chair Dennis L. White Regarding 80-Pound Voter Registration Card Directive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 28, 2004

Statement from Ohio Democratic Party Chair Dennis L. White Regarding 80-Pound Voter Registration Card Directive

All or part of the following statement can be attributed to Dennis L. White, Ohio Democratic Party Chair.

“I am shocked and appalled by the latest directive from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell that calls for the disregarding any voter registration form not filed on 80- pound weight paper. This is an antiquated rule and an unnecessary barrier to voter registration efforts going on in Ohio.

“If any Ohio citizen has information indicating a voter registration application has been denied because of inadequate paper weight, please notify the Ohio Democratic Party immediately. We stand ready to take whatever action is necessary to ensure that voter registration applications correctly completed by eligible voters are accepted.

“Please call Dan Trevas at [phone] or email [e-mail] if your application has been denied.

-30-

Contact: Dan Trevas at [phone] or [e-mail]

[jimshoes]

1. Good to hear

but how will any of the disenfranchised know if they have been disenfranchised before it's too late. Most won't find out till after they try to vote. We need an injuction against Blackwell.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. They should be getting voter's cards.

If they don't have one, then they should be calling to see if they're registered.

[madmom]

5. Oct. 2 is Ohio's deadline for...

voter registration.Darn good timing by the repukes I'd say.As a 55 year old lifetime resident of Oh. this is par for the coarse.

[POAS]

7. Correction

The correct deadline for registration in Ohio is October 4th for the November Election.

[LisaL]

4. They can call their board of elections to

find out if they are registered. In fact, some boards of elections have websites that you can check your registration by entering your name.

[Gothmog]

3. Good job

We need to fight these attempts to keep people from voting.

[olddem43]

6. Blackwell is Ohio's Clarence Thomas

He's the state repukes' house ------

[spotbird]

8. No one is going to be denied registration because of this.

At least not yet, they are given the opportunity to reapply. That's the point, some folks won't reapply. Others won't be notified until it's too late.

Using the reasoning of this release the provisional ballot issue shouldn't be litigated yet either, no one has been denied one yet.

They have the directive and the admission from Montgomery County. That is enough.

[LisaL]

9. Hello?

The deadline is Oct 4th. If they mail these forms out there is no way people could even re-apply on time before the deadline.
:eyes:

[Timefortruth]

10. Well, the State Party says there is no problem unless

someone who hasn't had their registration invalidated can be found.

Are you doubting them?

[LisaL]

11. Yes.

I am. Perhaps legally they can't do nothing unless they actually have invalidated voters?

[ohioan]

20. Pretty much

[spotbird]

22. In the real world injunctive relief can be sought

to prevent illegal actions.

Here that isn't necessary because the SOS says it won't be necessary, and the Democratic Party agrees with them. The SOS says there is no disenfranchisement, well that's good enough.

You're just not trusting enough.

[ohioan]

14. They haven't said they'll invalidate registrations of those who don't

return the new cards by then. I think, given the pressure of what the other counties are doing, they will accept the registrations already filed and simply use the returned cards to make sure their record keeping complies with the rule.

If the Secretary of State accepts non-card registration from other counties yet allows Montgomery County to invalidate such registrations, THEN there would be grounds for a suit.

Dayton area residents need to stay on top of this and keep the pressure on their Election Board to do the right thing and accept these registrations. They're likely to do it if they get enough pressure.

[spotbird]

23. But they aren't talking about those who don't reapply.

Or those who know they should reapply but don't get around to it in time.

[ohioan]

12. That's just not correct

Using the reasoning of this release the provisional ballot issue shouldn't be litigated yet either, no one has been denied one yet.

You can't compare these two instances because we're talking about two entirely different laws and two entirely different types of violations. The provisional ballot directive violates the Help America Vote Act's requirement that provisional voting be permitted. HAVA creates a specific right and then sets forth certain mechanisms for enforcing that right. The voter registration card issue doesn't violate HAVA, but it may or may not violate the Voting Rights Act. But the Voting Rights Act creates no new rights (instead, it provides for the implementation of the 15th Amendment) and has a completely different enforcement mechanism and standard of proof.

I really don't mean to sound like I'm lecturing, but these are very complicated legal issues that the lawyers involved have carefully analyzed and considered. Unless you've had legal training and experience litigating civil rights laws - which are very, very complex - it's really impossible to fully understand how they work and when they do and don't apply.

I don't say this to be smarmy. But I think it is counter-productive to second-guess the state party and its lawyers for not taking legal actions that you think they should. They've got some of the best election and civil rights lawyers in the country on board. They really do know what they're doing.

[spotbird]

16. Call me simple.

But this simpleton can see through what Blackwell did, and there are wholes in its legitimacy that a truck could be driven through.

What part of abuse of power don't you get? Yes these rules have been around for eons, it doesn't follow that the modern enforcement is legitimate. That's why we have courts.

You drone on about how the counties aren't following the directive, but all published reports are contrary. Not even once have you offered real support for that assertion. Yes, there is that misleading headline, but it didn't fool me.

[ohioan]

17. I never said that what Blackwell is doing is OK - He's a manipulative

political operative who is going to do everything he can to suppress the Democratic vote in Ohio.

My point is that, on this particular issue, there is no basis for a lawsuit at this time.

It doesn't mean we don't fight him. It doesn't mean we don't hold him accountable. It doesn't mean we don't make sure every Democratic voter in Ohio knows that he's trying to trample on their rights.

As for you claim that there's no proof that counties aren't following his directive, we apparently have a very different view of what constitutes proof. \

Some boards, which have long accepted voter registration cards on a variety of paper, are just ignoring Blackwell's order . . . "We've accepted voter registrations for years on all sorts of paper," said Barbara Tuckerman, director of the Sandusky County elections board and a Democrat. "We print them in the newspaper and people send in copies - we've always accepted them." . . . Summit County elections officials typically send the underweight cards back to voters along with the proper card and ask them to register again. But with the registration deadline approaching Oct. 4, the elections board is registering people regardless of the form, then asking people to submit a second form on the proper card, said director Bryan Williams, a Republican. "We believe that allows us to comply completely with the directive while at the same time not sacrificing anyone's right to vote because they didn't have access to 80-pound card stock," he said.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/9783...

Unlike you, I tend to think that County election officials saying that they're registering persons who IS real support for my assertion.

But, if you chose to believe otherwise, that's your prerogative. But your prerogative does not make a lawsuit any more likely to succeed.

[spotbird]

18. Convenient how Montgomery and Hamilton aren't mentioned.

Truth be told you don't have a clue as to what has happened. You give an example which proves nothing as to the state as a whole.

Nothing you have said or linked supports your assertions. But by saying the same thing over and over many will be convinced. It is a tried and true method.

[ohioan]

19. OK - I'll bow to your expertise . . .

Please share with us the legal basis for a challenge in federal court. Be specific. Under which statute would you bring this action? Would you file in federal or state court? What are the precedents for such a case? What remedies would you seek? Equitable relief or damages or both? What is the standard of proof you would need to meet in order to prove each claim?

And once you figure all of that out, be sure to share it with the Ohio Democratic Party and their lawyers since they obviously don't have a clue what the law is, how it applies, or even they're doing and desperately need you to advise them on their political and legal strategy.

[spotbird]

21. We agree tha ODP hasn't a clue. nt

[ohioan]

25. You didn't answer my question.

You claim the ODP doesn't have a clue because they have opted not to file the suit you think they should file, yet you haven't answered the most basic of legal questions you would need to address in order to properly assess whether a case should be filed?

Could it be you, not the ODP, who is without a clue?

[spotbird]

26. Yeah, that's it.

You've never addressed the counties who say they will comply. There are countless other issues that you dodge.

This shift displays that you have absolutely no substance to your argument.

[ohioan]

27. The gist of your argument is that the ODP is wrong not to sue

Yet you have offered absolutely nothing to demonstrate that you have even the slightest clue of the legal underpinnings of this case or to indicate why your assessment of the legal strategy should trump those of the ODP and their lawyers.

Carrying on about which county is doing what or accusing me of dodging the straw man issue you keep throwing up does not change the fact that you obviously do not know enough about the law to make any rational assessment of the legal strategy employed by those who do.

In other words, you should leave the legal strategy up to the people trained in legal strategy and find some way to support the campaign that does not involve trashing the professionals and activists who are putting their money where their mouths are and not just sitting at a computer bitching about matters they know nothing about.

[dolstein]

15. Sorry, but nobody should have to register twice.

As long as the relevant information has been provided, there is absolutely NO reason why someone should have to submit the same information a second time.

[spotbird]

24. You won't get an answer that addresses your question.

There is no room in this debate for the obvious.

[mzmolly]

13. Glad their on it. Hope it's helpful.

:hi:

[DeepModem Mom]

28. kick