Court OKs Republican Voter Challengers at Ohio Polls
/Giving
a pre-dawn Election Day boost to the GOP, a federal appeals court early
Tuesday cleared the way for political parties to send in people to
challenge voters' eligibility at Ohio polling places. The U.S. Supreme
Court declined to step in. Overturning the orders of two federal
judges, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
(news - web sites) ruled 2-1 early Tuesday that the presence of
Election Day challengers was allowed under state law. It granted
emergency stays that will allow Republicans and Democrats one
challenger per precinct each. Plaintiffs' appeals to the U.S. Supreme
Court were unsuccessful. Early Tuesday, Justice John Paul Stevens, who
handles appeals from Ohio, refused a request to stay the 6th Circuit
decision. The series of rulings came in a pair of lawsuits seeking to
block the GOP from stationing challengers at polling places, one filed
by a county Democratic group and the other by a black couple who said
the Republicans meant to intimidate black voters.[more] and [more]
- Lawyers for 20-year-old Cleveland Black woman,
Ebony Malone, filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court, arguing
that it was too late to change the rules. [more]
- Early Exit Polling Shows Kerry Ahead in PA, OH, FL, MI, NM, MN, WI and NH. [more]
- In Ohio, the state Republican Party has challenged the eligibility of
35,000 newly registered voters. ... It's necessary they say, to prevent
fraud in a state where polls show President Bush and John F. Kerry are
in a statistical tie. Most of the 35,000 you'll not be surprised to
hear, live in urban, which is to say, multi-racial, which is to say,
Democratic, areas.[more]
