Article published December 03, 2005
OHIO ELECTIONS
U.S. judge declines to dismiss lawsuit
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
A federal judge yesterday refused to dismiss most of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and 15 voters who accuse Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell of presiding over a broken election system in 2004.
The suit does not challenge the election results, which gave President Bush Ohio and ultimately the White House. But it claims the election was marred by inconsistent and sometimes incorrect decisions by poorly trained poll workers from county to county when it came to directing voters to their precincts, distributing absentee ballots, counting provisional ballots, and properly allocating voter machines to avoid long lines.
The only portion of the lawsuit dismissed by U.S. District Judge James Carr involved allegations that Ohio's voter registration system doesn't comply with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, the law passed in the wake of problems experienced in the 2000 election in Florida.
That reprieve could be temporary. The section was dismissed only because the federal law does not mandate compliance until Jan. 1, 2006, now less than a month away.
Without ruling on the merits of the case, Judge Carr is allowing the league to pursue its allegations that the state failed to maintain a uniform elections system.
"Put simply, LWV contends that defendants' election system provides different voting rights to different citizens based solely on where those citizens happen to reside and vote," wrote Judge Carr.
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
