OH: Breaking-Judge Hears Challenge to Voter Registration Rules

[rumpel]

CLEVELAND (AP) - A coalition suing to throw out Ohio's new rules governing voter registration drives continued to make its case before a federal judge on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley told lawyers she would like months to review issues she called important and intriguing. But she said because the upcoming Labor Day weekend is traditionally a busy voter registration drive time that she would try to make a ruling Friday afternoon.

O'Malley recessed the hearing until 2 p.m. so that she could study some of the court filings before making a decision.

She ruled Thursday that state Democratic lawmakers could join the challenge.

Assistant Ohio Attorney General Richard Coglianese explained that some of the concerns outlined in the lawsuit are part of a comprehensive election reform bill that reorganized Ohio law to bring it into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act.

He said the issues before the judge deal with improvements to the registration process to help election officials deal with false, late or questionable registrations.

"I want to know how these problems hurt the voters you say you are protecting," O'Malley said. For example, the judge said, a registration card showing a name like Mickey Mouse or Jive Turkey does not mean a person could actually use that registration to vote.

New voter registration regulations that carry potential criminal penalties are being viewed as harsh and confusing by people who want to conduct voter registration drives, said Karl J. Sandstrom, an attorney for one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.

"What's the stated intent here? We search in vain. A little administrative convenience is the only purpose we can find," he said.

http://www.onnnews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/ONN/content/pool/200609/333087119.html

[Kurovski]

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