State has new orders on the way to handle voters at wrong place
Thursday, October 21, 2004
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press
COLUMBUS — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell’s latest order on how to handle voters who show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day.

U.S. District Judge James Carr of Toledo then provided Blackwell with proposed changes to the order that would satisfy Carr, orders Blackwell then approved.

The result is that elections boards may soon receive two versions of the order: one if Carr’s decision is upheld by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and one if the appeals court sides with Blackwell.

Carr criticized Blackwell for not taking the suggestions he outlined in a ruling last week.

“Blackwell chose — for reasons he has not undertaken to explain thus far — to disregard those suggestions,” Carr wrote in his decision. “His doing so makes it necessary for this Court to do the job that he should have done.”

According to the first proposed order, if Blackwell wins on appeal, voters will be informed their entire ballot could be discounted if they vote in the wrong place.

If Blackwell loses, voters will be informed that only their ballots for federal races — including the president — will be counted if they vote in the wrong place, the other order said.

Democrats praised Carr’s ruling. They said they were reviewing the alternatives “to make sure they comply with Judge Carr’s voter-friendly order,” said Myron Marlin, an Ohio Democratic Party spokesman.

Democrats sued after Blackwell, a Republican, issued his first order last month saying voters would not be allowed to cast a vote unless they were in their correct precinct.

At issue is what the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act says about allowing eligible voters to cast ballots if their name does not appear on a list of registered voters.

In 2000, about 121,000 provisional ballots were cast by Ohio voters who had moved and didn’t change their voter registration information or whose names did not appear on the lists at their regular precinct. Of those, about 106,000 were counted.

The number of provisional ballots cast Nov. 2 will be known that night, said Carlo LoParo, a Blackwell spokesman. The ballots won’t be counted for 10 days.

Blackwell says allowing voters to cast a ballot wherever they show up, even if they’re not registered to vote there, is a recipe for Election Day chaos.

Democrats say the order could restrict the number of poor and minority voters, who move more often.

In a related issue, the head of the commission created to help states enact the 2002 federal voting law has called on Blackwell to stop saying the commission agrees with his position.

Blackwell contends that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, in an Oct. 12 resolution, backs his contention that ballots cast at the wrong place can’t be counted.

Blackwell is misapplying the commission’s position, DeForest Soaries, the commission’s chairman, said Wednesday.

The commission asked Blackwell in a letter Tuesday to refrain from characterizing the commission’s resolution “as an endorsement of your actions.”

LoParo said Blackwell was perplexed by Soaries’ letter.

“If the commission does not want the state of Ohio or other states to cite its resolution or the comments of its chairman, then the commission should stop issuing resolution and the chairman should stop speaking to the media,” he said.

Soaries responded that Blackwell was the only secretary of state in the country to misinterpret the resolution.

“We’ve sent on behalf of the federal government $90 million to Ohio,” Soaries said Wednesday. “Since we have sent $90 million to Ohio, Ken Blackwell and his staff have 90 million reasons to care about our opinion.”

PROVISIONAL BALLOTS

Highlights of ongoing court battle over ballots cast in the wrong place:

Sept. 16: Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell issues directive to county elections officials saying they are allowed to count provisional ballots only from voters who go to the correct polling location for their home address.

Sept: 27: Democrats sue in federal court, saying the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act allows voters to cast provisional ballots at any polling place in their home county. They say Blackwell’s order could affect the votes of poor people and minorities, who move more often.

Oct. 14: U.S. District Judge James Carr sides with Democrats, saying voters who show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day still can cast ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered.

Oct. 18: Under orders by Carr, Blackwell submits a new directive saying poll workers should make every effort to direct voters to the proper polling place on Election Day but must allow them to vote if they show up at the wrong precinct and request to vote there. He also says voters must sign a form saying they understand their vote could be discounted under state law if they vote someplace besides their precinct.

Oct. 19: Blackwell asks the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Carr’s Oct. 14 ruling.

Oct. 20: Carr rejects Blackwell’s new directive on provisional ballots. In turn, he submits two proposed versions to Blackwell; one if Blackwell loses on appeal, one if he wins. Blackwell signs off on the two versions. Also, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees to hear the case quickly and orders Blackwell to file arguments with the court by 10 a.m. today.

Source: AP Research