In Tight Race, Victor May Be Ohio Lawyers

[groovedaddy]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If the outcome of next week’s presidential election is close, this precariously balanced state could be the place where the two parties begin filing the inevitable lawsuits over voting irregularities, experts say.

The battles could be over the rules for a recount, or how to deal with voters who were not added to the rolls even though they registered properly and on time. Lawyers could fight over how to count the paper ballots used when the electronic machines break down, or whether a judge was correct in deciding to keep certain polls open late.

But the most likely source of litigation is the state’s heavy use of provisional ballots, which are issued when a voter’s identity or registration cannot immediately be verified or when polls stay open late. Ohio has a history of requiring large numbers of voters to use these ballots, which are easy to disqualify and are not counted until after the election.

“Provisional ballots are really the Achilles’ heel of our electoral process, because in a close race that is the pressure point lawyers use to try to undo the results,” said Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University who is one of the nation’s foremost experts on voting litigation. “The larger the number of provisional ballots cast in a state, the more vulnerable the Achilles’ heel, and Ohio has for a couple of elections used more of these ballots than most any other state.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/us/politics/31ohio.html?th&emc=th

[spookytooth]

1. Why does Ohio just happen to have a history of this? And since when?

I mean, why couldn't they come up with a sensible alternative when polls are open late or stress voters to bring IDs? We have had 8 years to deal with this and I just cannot believe that it is still possibly up in the air!

[mod mom]

2. We're ready for the assholes this time!