Election directive rattles officials
What if voters get unruly? board asks
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Suzanne Hoholik and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Franklin County elections officials want to know how much they can challenge a directive from the secretary of state on provisional ballots before they lose their jobs.

For years, they’ve given ballots to voters who have shown up in the wrong precinct, just to give everyone an opportunity to vote.

But Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has ordered that provisional ballots be issued and counted only in the precinct where a voter lives.

Otherwise, poll workers are to either direct voters to the correct precinct, the county board of elections or a regional location the board might establish.

This week, Blackwell sent a letter to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections — and copied it to all counties — warning that unless a court rules otherwise, Cuyahoga board members could face removal from office if they violate the directive.

Local officials are confused, want clarification and question Blackwell’s intent.

"For him to come out with that decision so close to Election Day . . . I’m suspect of his motivations," Franklin County Board of Elections Chairman William Anthony said.

Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Blackwell, a Republican, said it’s not a political decision but a legal one.

"We feel the directive is clear," he said. "I think Franklin County does understand it’s clear, but they’d like it to be something different than the law."

During the 2000 election, 12,630 provisional ballots were issued in Franklin County. Of those, 10,168 were ruled valid, according to state records. More than 98,000 were issued statewide.

Franklin County elections officials plan to send a letter to Blackwell and question a possible scenario: If a voter goes to the wrong voting site, becomes belligerent and demands a provisional ballot, what is a poll worker — many of whom are elderly — to do?

Matthew Damschroder, direc- tor of the Franklin County Board of Elections, has his opinion.

"If the voter is in the precinct and insists that this is their precinct, then we have to, in my opinion, allow that person to sign an affidavit and vote provisional," Damschroder said.

But avoiding conflicts is no reason to break the law, LoParo said.

"It would be inexcusable for an elections official to provide a voter with a ballot with the knowledge that that ballot would not be counted," he said.

"If they defy the law, he (Blackwell) will seek removal of all board members and its director."

Despite the threat, state Sen. Mark Mallory sent a letter to the Hamilton County Board of Elections yesterday asking it to ignore the directive.

"If someone wants to vote, let them," wrote Mallory, a Democrat from Cincinnati. "The whole point of provisional voting is to allow a voter to cast a ballot and then have the board determine if the ballot is eligible."

The Cuyahoga County elections board said yesterday that it will direct voters to their correct polling place but will accept ballots from anyone who insists on voting.

Provisional ballots are cast by voters who have moved and not d their registration, or who think they’re registered but don’t appear on the registration lists because of a mistake.

Critics of Blackwell’s directive point to the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, created after thousands of people in Florida were denied ballots in 2000.

It says any qualified voter who asks for a provisional ballot shall receive one. But the section also says the vote will be counted according to state law — which in Ohio says votes cast outside a voter’s precinct are illegal.

For years, many counties allowed people to vote in the wrong precincts and sorted it out after the election.

"We have been doing it the way HAVA was saying to do it and erring on the side of the voter," said Anthony, who also is chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party. "There’s a lot of us that probably broke the law in an effort to have folks’ votes be counted."

Ohio Democrats, the League of Women Voters of Ohio and other groups have filed federal lawsuits challenging the directive, saying it violates the spirit of the federal law.

Meanwhile, Democrats recruiting lawyers to monitor provisional balloting and other voting on Nov. 2 said yesterday that they’re "very concerned" Republicans plan to challenge voters in heavily Democratic precincts.

Republicans deny that.

Both parties say they plan to file requests to have lawyers designated as official challengers at certain polling locations, which gives them the right to observe activity at the polls.

David Sullivan, Ohio coordinator of the Democrats’ voter-protection project, said Democrats would only observe, help voters if needed and respond to any problems.

"We’re concerned Republicans will be doing challenging in places with strong Democratic voting," he said. "Their goal will be to slow down voting and discourage voting."

Jason Mauk, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party, called that "absurd." "The bottom line here is they are the ones stirring the hornets’ nest on pursuing every possible legal maneuver that might win them this election." The Associated Press contributed to this story.