Article published August 04, 2006
Court affirms Blackwell owes $65,000 in legal fees
Sandusky County Dems challenged voting directive
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS — Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell must pay nearly $65,000 in legal fees incurred by the Sandusky County Democratic Party when it successfully challenged one of the chief elections officer’s directives over provisional ballots in 2004.
The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a court order that determined Mr. Blackwell would not have brought his directives into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act if not for the lawsuit.
Prior to the 2004 presidential election, U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo determined Mr. Blackwell’s directives failed to say poll workers had to allow voters to cast provisional ballots even if they believed the voters were in the wrong precinct.
As a result, Mr. Blackwell sent revised directions to poll workers informing them that provisional ballots would be provided in such cases but only counted if subsequent investigation showed the voters were indeed eligible to vote.
Blackwell spokesman James Lee said no decision has been made on whether to seek an appeal of the decision.
In other elections activity yesterday, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Common Cause, and other voting rights groups said confusion surrounding Ohio’s new voter identification requirement could lead to long lines at the polls.
Beginning with Tuesday’s special elections, voters must show poll workers identification that displays their names and current addresses. Acceptable forms of ID include a driver’s license, military ID, utility bill, paycheck, bank statement, government check, or some government document.
The groups argue that directives from Mr. Blackwell’s office fail to point out that the one exception to the current-address rule is a valid driver’s license that has yet to be updated with a change of address.
Those without acceptable ID could still cast a provisional ballot by providing the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
Mr. Lee said the secretary of state sent a memo to county boards on May 26 that noted that those with valid driver’s licenses with outdated addresses could still cast regular ballots. The office yesterday sent out the May 26 memo again, this time with “regular ballot” highlighted.
Jill Kelly, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said she had gotten the message.
“Different people have different comfort levels,” she said.
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