WP, pg1: Some Fear Ohio Will Be Florida of 2004

[DeepModem Mom]

Some Fear Ohio Will Be Florida of 2004

By Paul Farhi and Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 26, 2004; Page A01


COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 25 -- Democrats and Republicans here traded accusations of voter fraud, obstruction and intimidation Monday as officials grappled with what is becoming a confused -- and potentially chaotic -- presidential election in this critical battleground state.

As Democrats marched through the downtown streets of the state capital with banners reading "Not This Time!" and chanting "Count every vote," Republicans continued to challenge the eligibility of thousands of newly registered voters. This presented state election officials with the prospect of holding thousands of hearings over the next week to determine who can cast a ballot on Nov. 2....

***

Among the looming concerns:

• Republicans have already filed 35,000 challenges to voters' eligibility and are preparing to send recruits into 8,000 polling places next Tuesday to challenge other voters they suspect are not eligible, particularly hundreds of thousands of the newly registered. Democrats are alarmed at the effort, saying it could tie up voting and keep many away from the polls.

• Ohio's voter-registration rolls contain more than 120,000 duplicate names, and an untold number of ineligible voters, such as people who have moved out of the state. A review of the rolls by the Columbus Dispatch even found a murder victim and two suspected terrorists among the eligible.

• Democrats fear that polling places will be inadequately staffed and equipped to handle the crush of voters on Election Day. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) said Monday she is concerned that many new voters will not get proper notification from county election boards about where to vote. That is a critical issue in light of a federal appeals court ruling Saturday that voters with provisional ballots -- backup ballots for voters whose names do not appear on the rolls -- must cast them in their own precinct for the votes to count....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62645-2004Oct25.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. We have lawyers too.

And we know how to use them. Now. Perhaps the repukes greatest gift to us.

[Florida_Geek]

2. Let's see was there a Touchscreen maker in Ohio that

promised Ohio to *.......

Grrrrrrr

[Philostopher]

5. It was Diebold.

He had to break the promise -- the Ohio BoE and local boards of election refused to use the machines. Six or seven precincts are using EV (not Diebold machines, though the ones they are using are the same as some of the ones that are screwing up votes out west), the rest of us will have to 'make do' with punch cards and OCR ballots. I don't know how we'll stand using such archaic technology. Wonder where they'll bury the punch cards Dems cast?

EV won't be a factor here, I don't think.

[Florida_Geek]

9. I am glad to hear that

:evilgrin: OCR or punchcard leave paper behinded :)

[Philostopher]

10. Yeah, but now, Blackwell is clearly working

to keep the paper from coming in, since they can't make our votes disappear through Diebold vaporware. That's why they're making such a desperate effort to suppress incoming votes -- they lost on controlling the outgoing count electronically. I'm guessing Bush* has promised Blackwell some plum position in the administration if Blackwell can get him put back in there, and they know Ohio's an important state to get. They're going out of their way to be obviously partisan -- and frankly, their efforts are starting to look kind of racist. I don't know if they thought having an African American secretary of state coordinate their vote suppression efforts in inner cities would absolve them of charges of racism or what -- I do know a few African Americans who've said they think it's racist, just in passing, and they all know who Ken Blackwell is. I don't think the Goopers understand that there are a lot of people who are going to be pissed off about this no matter what race their operatives are. It didn't need to be an issue, but I think we all know, here in Ohio, what polling precincts will be hammered the hardest.

In a way, I kind of hope some Dem challenger pulls me out of line in my white, suburban district. I know to take all my ID, and I've voted in every election here since I moved in, so I know I'm on the rolls and my address is correct. I'd almost feel good about it, since I know there'd be no reason I wouldn't get to vote, but it would make the very people who think this is such a wonderful thing -- people like my Gooper neighbors -- think twice about how it feels to be accused of trying to cheat.

[Onlooker]

3. Anyone from Ohio here? How is this story playing there.

Is it a big story there? Does it trouble people that J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state, is co-chairman of Bush's reelection campaign in Ohio?

[cmd]

4. The story has been playing here for weeks

My county is a small one (91,000), but a swing county very much in play. The story has been front page all week as the republicans challenge as we counter.

See the two stories from today here:

http://www.timesreporter.com/browser_detect.php

[Philostopher]

6. People are at least starting to smell a rat, I think.

Of course, there are enough Republicans in this state who think rotting rat smells like candy, so I don't know how much good it will do. Even the whoriest newspapers, like the Cincinnati Enquirer, are reporting this stuff -- I guess they're probably making it sound like Ken Blackwell is some kind of superhero, upholding truth, justice and the American way.

Democrats and new voters are troubled, concerned about access and the possibility of violence in inner city polling places when new voters -- who registered because they're darned well pissed off at Bush* -- are challenged; Republicans are smug and confident that Blackwell will keep Democrats from giving the state to Kerry, no matter how many ethical and legal violations he has to commit. That's the lowdown, at least from my view down here in the SW corner.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Wow, just like Kathryn Harris

Florida's ex-secretary of state, who was co-chair of bu$h's campaign in Florida.

[lucky777]

8. I was at the rally yesterday at the Statehouse

It was very inspiring, the mayor was there, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones is very impressive. Hopefully Blackwell will get the message.

The big problem is with getting people to understand how little changes in the rules can affect the outcome. Most people don't understand that . . . I lived in Jacksonville FL during the 2000 election so I understand it quite well!