AP: Activists Want Ohio Election Chief Out

[Eugene]

Activists Want Ohio Election Chief Out


Friday September 1, 2006 12:46 AM

By JULIE CARR SMYTH

Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Activists filed a civil-rights lawsuit Thursday
claiming Secretary of State Ken Blackwell deprived people of their
voting rights during the 2004 presidential election and seeking to have
him removed from overseeing the general election in November.

The plaintiffs, who range from the Ohio Voter Rights Alliance for
Democracy to the head of a Columbus neighborhood association,
accuse Blackwell of distributing fewer voting machines per person
in black neighborhoods, purging voter registrations and disproportionately
assigning provisional ballots to blacks. Those provisional ballots then
were disqualified at higher rates than in nearby precincts that were
mostly white, the plaintiffs allege.

"The court should appoint someone that everyone will say is honest
and competent and will ensure that the appropriate security measures
are in place and we don't have this kind of vulnerability in the next
election," said attorney Cliff Arnebeck, who represents the plaintiffs.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6051084,00.html

[liberal N proud]

1. He should voluntarily step down as he is a candidate for Gov.

It is conflict of interest for him to remain in charge of the election.

[jazzjunkysue]

2. It's about time Ohio started kicking back at the GOP.

[TexasLawyer]

3. Anyone with half a brain

and an ounce of patriotism wants this guy out of office.

Highly partisan political operatives should not be running elections, no matter what their political stripe.

[DeadManInc]

4. I can't wait to see this fucktard

gone. There was a good youtube video yesterday about these morons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHvk1owpS_I

[Kolesar]

13. So how do I detach that clip & email it?

Too bad they had to satirize that beautiful song, but....

[BushSpeak]

28. Try these links for a video downloader

To download Internet videos just plug the URL into these sites:

VideoDownloader
http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php
or
Keepvid
http://keepvid.com/

Play / convert .flv files with RivaFLVencoder / Player
http://www.rivavx.com/index.php?encoder&L=3

FAQ >
How to convert .flv (flash video) to .avi or .mpg
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t259578.html

Don't forget the popcorn!

[Der Blaue Engel]

5. Wait, what???

He's STILL the election chief for his OWN ELECTION? :wtf:

Jesus Christ. Why don't we just let him pick a winner now? I wonder who it will be? :eyes:

I can't believe this. I just assumed this was a clear conflict of interest and had been dealt with already.

[UpInArms]

6. GOP Motto: Conflicts of Interest 'R' Us ..... eom

[GOTV]

23. You got that right.

In 2005 we had 4 ballot issues that would have fixed much of our election problems. They dealt with:

Reducing campaign contribution limits
Allowing people to vote absentee without a reason
Removing responsibility for drawing district lines from partisan politians
Removing responsibility for election administration from partisan politians

117 of the richest Ohioans (actually, I don't know if they were all Ohioans) pooled their cash and put on an advertising campaign against these amendments and every one of them were voted down - some by large margins.

Maybe we're not too bright in this state.

[Der Blaue Engel]

26. I'm sorry to hear that

Those sound like great initiatives. If it's any consolation, California voters frequently do some really stupid-ass stuff too.

[badgervan]

7. Finally

This should have been done right after that crooked election in Ohio. How Blackwell, a hard core bush loving repub, could have such immense power over Ohio's electoral process has always puzzled me. And for him to still retain that power, while running for public office, is beyond mystifying: it is opportunity, pure and simple.
Go Ohio: get this manipulating thug OUT of your government - please!

[newscott]

8. Shouldn't they have done this months ago?

There will never be enough time to get this through the courts.

Day late and a dollar short as usual.

[Peace Patriot]

11. You file any election fraud lawsuits lately, Newscott? Why peck out

Cliff Arnebeck's eyes? Why not go file your own?

IF he can get Ohio's highly corrupt courts to DO something, they can put a temporary restraining order, or preliminary injunction--or stay--on Blackwell, in a matter of days or weeks. There is a good case for "irreparable harm" if no stay is ordered now (and the thing is allowed to just wind through the courts at normal pace). That's standard procedure for claims of civil harm. If the case has merit, and the harm is on-going or imminent, no decent judge would permit the harm to occur, or to continue, through prelim motions and trial. If the judge denies the stay, it can be appealed and usually gets prompt attention (because of allegations of on-going or imminent harm).

This all presumes that justice is possible--even a little bit of justice--in Ohio. But ANOTHER function of public interest litigation is to EDUCATE THE PUBLIC. Public advocacy groups sometimes file lawsuits, even in hopelessly corrupt legal or political situations, to inform the public, and/or to keep the public's rights active. (In civil rights cases, in the south, in the '50s and '60s, for instance, the local situation often looked hopelessly bigoted, but a civil rights attorney would file a lawsuit anyway, to draw the injustice into the public venue--to air it--to make the injustice or the right apparent!)

These lawsuits are not easy. Everything is stacked against the public interest in our court system now--pretty much nationwide, Ohio being among the worst in BushWorld. No corporate law firm, with cadres of lawyers and paralegals and secretaries, and phones and office supplies, and travel stipends. Probably one attorney doing all the work, staying up late at night, having to see to every detail--with a poor non-profit as the only support. And details like the margins of your legal documents, cover sheets, numbers of copies, etc., can get your lawsuit thrown out on a technicality, and in a BushWorld court, they would use every excuse to do so.

So have a little pity--and some praise--for attorneys who care enough about YOUR rights and YOUR interests to do all this for piss-poor pay or no pay, and who often lose against the millions and millions and billions of dollars that our Corporate Rulers spend on judges and lawyers.

I'll say it, if you won't: THANK YOU, CLIFF ARNEBECK! YOU ARE A HERO! YOUR CAUSE IS RIGHTEOUS! HOW CAN WE HELP?

[truedelphi]

19. Thank you for expressing this so well

And so knowledgeably.

[GOTV]

24. We tried to fix this in 2005

with the reform Ohio now amendments.

We were more like a dollar short than a day late.

[Wilms]

9. K & R n/t

[Senator]

10. k&r

[EFerrari]

12. The Buddha smiles.

:kick:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. damn AP. this is framed improperly.

it should read:
Citizens and Patriots want to oust Blackwell, the thief who stole Ohio.

[truedelphi]

20. An entire group of AP reporters

Report everything in terms of corporate shill and in words that support the masters of the corportate world in all their pretty endeavors.

That is how I became a "journalist" - I knew the the gas additive MTBE
was a menance and that credible scientists everywhere were saying so.

AP set out story in late Nov 1998 that Governor Davis California's Blue Ribbon team of
scientists were stating that MTBE was not a problem.

I personally went to Sacramento to punch the head of the study, John Froines, in the nose.

Luckily before I socked him, he asked that I tell him why I wanted to punch him out (he was more good natured than taken aback by this crone of a woman coming up to him all bombast and irritation)
"This is why" says I taking an AP clip out of my purse. "You lied about MTBE"
He took the clip, read the headline, handed it back. "Carol, believe me, I said, and every other member of my research team said, the exact opposite of this headline. Exact opposite. BUt you can't believe the AP. Not on issues that involve Big Oil and their money.

If you stay for the hearings, you will see that we say, with research to prove it, MTBE is just a bit shy of the research needed to prove it is a carcinogen. We consider it only a tad less dangerous than benzene." (Organic scientists consider benzene to be at the top of the list of hazardous substances.)

Shortly after our encounter I submitted my first ever news article which Don Deane editor at the Coastal Post graciously printed.

THE AP IS SUSPECT. THEY ARE THE ONES SAYING THAT THE TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH ARE GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY, THAT 9/11 GROUPS ARE ALL CONSPIRACY TWEAKERS GONE MAD, THAT CONDI RICE WILL WIN IN 2008.
Should Lamont in Connecticutt jump in the local pond and save a baby, the AP will be right there to say the guy *strangled* the child.

[farmbo]

15. Great News: They drew Judge Algenon Marbley!

A Clinton appointee who is Black, Marbley will give this case the fair vetting it deserves.

[Vidar]

16. Overseeing his own election & investing in Diebold.

Where's the conflict of interest? :sarcasm:

[EnviroBat]

17. The scary thing is

Every time you see this ass-clown on TV or in the press, he always appears remarkably reassured and confident despite the poles showing Strickland is handing him his ass. We know what he's up to already, but it as if we're stuck in the mud here in Ohio. Perhaps a protest march on our statehouse might get more attention?

[OhioChick]

18. Lawsuit Over Voter Registration Rules Headed To Court (OH)

Federal Court To Hear Challenge On Friday

POSTED: 2:10 am EDT September 1, 2006
UPDATED: 8:07 am EDT September 1, 2006

CLEVELAND -- A lawsuit challenging voter registration rules in Ohio heads to Cleveland federal court on Friday.

The lawsuit was filed in July by a coalition of groups. Judge Kathleen O'Malley ruled on Thursday that state Democratic lawmakers may join the challenge.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Ohio's chief elections officer and the Republican candidate for governor, predicts the state will win the court challenge.

The lawsuit contends criminal penalties for violating voter registration rules could deter people from canvassing.

http://www.newsnet5.com/politics/9773848/detail.html

[brentspeak]

21. Hopefully, followed by a criminal investigation of Blackwell

He can explain to a jury of his peers just why he claimed the FBI said the Warren Cty Courthouse was under a terror threat when in fact the FBI never said that all.

[yellowcanine]

22. Blackwell should have recused himself from overseeing the election

the minute he announced for governor.

[GOTV]

25. Yes he should have....

... but he's republican

[BadGimp]

27. How sad that this is not a US media source reporting on this

I can not find this via a Google News search.

Anyone else?