OH: Amicus Brief Filed Against Blackwell's Oppressive Voter Reg. Rules

[kpete]

State Senator Marc Dann files amicus brief on behalf of Legislators in Project Vote case against Blackwell’s oppressive voter registration rules.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

State Senator Marc Dann files amicus brief on behalf of Legislators in Project Vote case against Blackwell’s oppressive voter registration rules. House, Senate members, say regulations violate basic

In a brief prepared and filed on behalf of and Senate Minority Leader C.J. Prentiss, House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty and 31 other members of the Ohio General Assembly, State Senator Marc Dann argues that new voter registration rules developed and imposed by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell violate the rights of Ohioans and should be scrapped.

Speaking at a press conference in front of the Federal Courthouse in Cleveland where the case is being heard by Judge Kathleen M. O’Malley, Senator Dann said it is both ironic and troubling that he and other members of the legislature are being forced to ask the Court to overturn Blackwell’s oppressive rules less than a week after the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 that broke down institutional barriers to the ballot box was extended.

In the amicus brief supporting the arguments made in the case filed by Project Vote, Common Cause Ohio, the People for the American Way Foundation, Communities of Faith Assemblies Church, and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on July 6, Senator Dann states that the new rules “violate core political speech rights by imposing undue procedural burdens on voting rights and by imposing vague and confusing standards subject to criminal penalties.”

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more at:
http://www.dannforohio.com/news.php?item.11.1

But a little something else was buried in that bill that may come back to bite Republicans. It gives the attorney general power to investigate and prosecute election fraud with a SIX YEAR statute of limitations. As in Democratic attorney general (Dann) elected in November = investigation of 2004 election in Ohio!

Said Dann: "I could convene a grand jury if I thought there was probable cause for voter suppression in 2004 and prosecute if I thought it to have been criminally motivated as well. Whether it rises to that level I don't know. But I would take a look at that."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/2/163350/2986

[MissWaverly]

1. I hope there is justice for Ohio

What went on in Ohio in 2004 was not an election; it was a mockery, an illusion, a virtual election with no substance. When people are denied the right to vote based on the
whims of a powerful elite, democracy weeps in shame. Our nation was founded on the premise
that all men are created equal, we have strayed from that; it's true, but only at a loss to
our country as a whole. Our country can only be free when all voices can be heard. How can
we demand that individuals risk their lives in battle for our nation while we strip them
of the voting rights. It does not only diminish them but our whole nation.

[bleever]

2. Kicking for Blackwell...in an orange jumpsuit.

[Patsy Stone]

3. Let's just kick *him*.

My .02

:hi:

What are they hiding?

[JimDandy]

4. A Ken 'Hackwell' Kick inspired by Patsy Stone Thnx n/t

[grannylib]

5. I second the orange jumpsuit and the kick! (For the post AND for

Blackwell's sorry ass)

[Land Shark]

6. thank you