Suits aim to head off problems

Newsday

BY DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY
WASHINGTON BUREAU

October 11, 2004

WASHINGTON - Ohio may be the next Florida.

With three weeks until Nov. 2, Ohio has become the epicenter of lawsuits over an election that has yet to be held. Officials there are trying to fend off court challenges about provisional ballots, punch cards and even Ralph Nader's placement on the ballot.

"It's apparent Ohio is a battleground state," said Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. "There is a lot of partisan activity."

Yet Ohio is far from alone. From Florida to New Mexico, states are being sued for everything from the continued use of controversial punch cards and electronic voting machines to the counting of provisional ballots. Democrats and Republicans have lined up lawyers to monitor polling places. Civil rights groups charge that voters are already being intimidated. The Justice Department also has launched several investigations in key battlegrounds to target bogus registrations.

Political observers and civil rights groups say the lawsuits, lawyers and investigations are due in part to memories of the 2000 election. Civil rights groups charge that thousands of ballots, particularly from voters of color, were not counted in that closely contested presidential race. Republicans, meanwhile, say they also want to safeguard election results.

To head off problems, both sides have enlisted a veritable army to defend what promises to be another close election.

Civil rights groups say they hope through lawsuits to force election officials to impose fewer restrictions, particularly on new voters. Some court decisions are expected this week.

"We don't want a repetition of what happened - the bad experience with post-election litigation in 2000," said Elliott Mincberg, legal director for People for the American Way, a civil rights organization that has battled many right-wing causes and has filed lawsuits in Ohio and Florida. "All of us feel much better about getting these things resolved before the election than after."

Taking steps

Raj Goyle, an analyst at the Center for American Progress, a progressive-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., said groups are taking steps before Election Day to make sure access to the ballot box isn't restricted. "The presidency only comes once every four years. ... Even if the cases are filed after the election, you can't call a time out and say let's redo this," he said.

State election officials say they are following federal and state laws and charge that political parties are filing many lawsuits hoping to get an advantage over the record number of people registering to vote.

One pressing concern for civil rights groups is how states will count provisional ballots. Under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, states must provide the ballot, which allows people to vote if there is an eligibility question. It's verified later.

The law, however, leaves it to states to decide how to count the ballots. Some states, such as Ohio, won't count the ballot if it's cast in the wrong precinct. In New Mexico, if a person votes in the wrong place, the federal choices will be counted, but not the local.

This election will be the first presidential contest since the federal law was enacted.

State election officials say it would create havoc to have residents voting outside their districts all over the state, particularly with local initiatives. Civil rights advocates argue voters should be able to vote no matter where they are.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing Ohio regarding its continued use of antiquated punch cards, which it says have a high error rate and are disproportionately used in communities of color. Election officials say they have been reluctant to buy new electronic voting equipment until the systems are proven secure.

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) said it's important that concerns are addressed before the election "versus trying to raise hell after."

Playing politics

Election officials say political parties are using the lawsuits to slant the election process in their favor.

"More than anything it has a lot of political implications. It looks like they want to manipulate the system to work to their advantage," said Rebecca Vigil-Giron, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and New Mexico's Secretary of State.

In New Mexico, Republicans lost a challenge to expand the list of voters who had to show identification when they voted. Democrats lost a challenge to remove Nader from the ballot.

Florida still has its share of problems. Democrats sued last week about election officials' decision to reject registration applications that did not have a box checked confirming U.S. citizenship, even though registrants are asked elsewhere on the form about citizenship.

A witness at a Congressional Black Caucus hearing on Thursday testified that officials from the federal Department of Homeland Security and the city of Miami recently barred a nonpartisan group from registering newly naturalized citizens. A federal judge ruled in the group's favor.

In Orlando, law enforcement officers questioned black elderly voters while investigating absentee ballot fraud in a March mayoral race. Civil rights groups say seniors were intimidated. Justice officials are investigating.

Civil rights groups say they are worried that the practices, whether intentional or not, could discourage voters from going to the polls. The groups will dispatch lawyers and poll watchers to monitor elections.

"The CBC has vowed to never forget the 2000 election and to never allow such a fundamental breakdown in our country's democratic principle to recur on our watch," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.