Panel supports Blackwell on voter registration rules

[Algorem]

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060627/NEWS09/606270389

Article published Tuesday, June 27, 2006

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - A legislative committee yesterday refused along party lines to kill rules written by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's office that have added fuel to allegations the GOP gubernatorial candidate is trying to suppress voter registration.

"They're making it harder, harder, harder to register," said Senate Minority Leader C.J. Prentiss (D., Cleveland)...

Those compensated to register voters - and not those writing the checks - would be required to submit the cards they gather to county election boards or the secretary of state's office. They could not submit them to any other drop-off location like the Bureau of Motor Vehicles available to those seeking to register themselves.

Groups such as the League of Women Voters of Ohio contend failure of the rules to define "compensation" will have a "chilling effect" on volunteer efforts. They argue volunteers will fear that accepting transportation, soft drinks, T-shirts, or some other undefined compensation might make them guilty of election falsification, a fifth-degree felony punishable by six to 18 months in prison...

[wakeme2008]

1. these are almost the very same rules

the florida leg thought up on their own

Among numerous other provisions, the law requires registration cards to be submitted for processing within 10 days of completion.

[Kolesar]

2. & therefore...

Sorry, I don't get the point

[OneBlueSky]

3. voter suppression -- particularly of Democratic votes --

is fast emerging as a MAJOR Republican strategy for the November elections . . .

understandable, I suppose, since they don't have anything substantive to run on . . . but it's still a huge threat to our democracy -- what's left of it . . .