Republicans distance selves from vote-blocking attempt
11/1/2004, 3:14 p.m. PT
By JULIA SILVERMAN
The Associated Press    

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Oregon Republicans are distancing the party from a letter sent by a Portland attorney to Multnomah County's election director challenging ballots cast by new voters who were not asked to provide identification.   
 
The letter raised eyebrows because it appeared to be sent only to election officials in Multnomah County, one of the state's most liberal and heavily Democratic, which has seen a dramatic surge in new voters this year.

Because of Oregon's vote-by-mail system, residents are not required to present a driver's license or an alternate form of identification when voting.

On Monday, Victory 2004 GOP spokeswoman Rori Smith said, "The attorney who transmitted the letter is a volunteer, who has not been retained by the Republican Party. There appears to have been a miscommunication between two or more volunteers regarding this issue."

That statement differs from the letter, which begins: "The Oregon Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign have retained the law firm of O'Donnell & Clark LLP to represent their interests with regards to certain provisional ballot election issues in Multnomah County."

While distancing themselves from the letter, Republican officials would not rule out the possibility that the party might in the future challenge some votes on lack-of-identification grounds, saying the topic had been discussed within the party.

Oregon officials, though, said the GOP would likely have a tough time making such charges stick.

"We've already discussed the possibility of a lawsuit over that issue; our lawyers are well prepared in case they do so," said state Elections Director John Lindback. "I have thought all along that if they tried to pursue this in court, it would not be a strong case for them. The law is so clear."

Congress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act, aimed at curbing voting irregularities. One provision was a requirement that new voters show proof of identification when voting.

But Oregon's congressional delegation took issue with that requirement because of Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system, which had previously allowed citizens to simply send in their ballots. The bipartisan "Oregon Compromise," drafted by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, added language creating an exception for Oregon.

The letter in question was sent from the law firm of Kelly Clark, the high-profile lawyer who has been one of the public faces behind the Defense of Marriage Coalition, the group spearheading the effort to amend Oregon's constitution to prohibit gay marriage.

Clark on Tuesday referred all questions about the letter to Smith and the Bush/Cheney Oregon campaign headquarters.

"We did what we were asked to do. The issue is an important one," he said. "We have no instructions to do anything further."

He said he did not know whether any legal challenge would follow the letter, and that it would be up to the Republican Party to decide.

Democrats and liberal-leaning organizations, meanwhile, denounced the Republican letter, calling it an attempt to tamp down what are expected to be historic voter turnout levels in Multnomah County.

"They are trying to squelch a public relations disaster by backpedaling from the original complaint, while simultaneously keeping their plans to challenge ballots alive," said a statement released Monday by Patty Wentz, an Oregon AFL-CIO spokeswoman.

The letter demanded that Multnomah County elections officials set aside ballots cast by people who registered without providing identification, "so that the voter's registration can be reviewed and verified, and the ballot challenged, if necessary."