Lawsuit filed against Blackwell

[BillORightsMan]

at Forbes.com

Activists Want Ohio Election Chief Out
By JULIE CARR SMYTH , 08.31.2006, 07:44 PM

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.

more...

In a related story, PBS NOW 9.1.06 at WVIZ CH-25

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/235/voting-rules.html">Block the Vote

In his 2006 book "Stealing Democracy," Spencer Overton illustrates historical and current flaws related to America's voting system, including an overview of most states. Check the status of your home state below.
.
.
.
Ohio

• 2004: Voters at the polls wait in for as long as 5 hours due to large voter turnout and too few voting machines.
  
• 2004: In Franklin County, 102,000 new voters were added to the registration rolls, but because too few voting machines are provided, there are 170 voters per machine and up to a five-hour wait to cast a ballot.
  
• 2004: Four years after Florida's hanging-chad fiasco, only 13.1 percent of American voters use punch-card machines, but more than 70 percent of Ohio voters use such machines.
  
• 2004: Ohio punch-card machines produce more than 76,000 spoiled ballots in the November presidential election (a smaller number than President Bush's 118,600-vote margin of victory over Senator Kerry).
  
• 2004: A federal court in Ohio found that during the 2004 presidential election, Republicans deployed their poll monitors so that only 14 percent of new voters in predominantly white precincts would face a Republican challenger, while fully 97 percent of new voters in African-American precincts would face one.
  
• 2002 and 2004: A statewide survey found four instances of ineligible persons voting or attempting to vote in 2002 and 2004, out of 9,078,728 votes cast - a rate of 0.00004%. (Good thing they mandated showing ID to vote, eh? :grr: -Ed.)
  

Still no word from my Dem Central Committee on what to do OR what THEY are doing to combat HB3:banghead:

imbillorightsmanandiapprovethismessage

[BillORightsMan]

1. Arnebeck Lawsuit Letter To Blackwell POSTED!

Cliff Arnebeck Lawsuit Letter To Ken Blackwell
by Columbus at the DU Election Reform board

in part...
These documents must be preserved by you as well as by the 88 voting districts in Ohio, which are being copied on this letter.

Do not discard, destroy, or alter in any way any of the documents described above. Failure to preserve these materials will severely prejudice plaintiffs in their lawsuit, and could result in the imposition of harsh penalties and sanctions on you.

:applause: