Lawyering Up
And this is what our democracy has been reduced to: from yesterday's NY Times:
A team of lawyers for the Democratic Party has been arguing with postal officials in Columbus, Ohio, trying to persuade them to process thousands of absentee ballots that have arrived with insufficient postage.
In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party has opened a “recount account” and set aside $500,000 to pay lawyers who will answer telephones on Election Day and monitor polls to see whether officials demand proper voters’ identification. In Maryland, lawyers representing candidates for senator and governor from both parties met recently and swapped cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses to smooth out the logistics of potential litigation.
Democrats say they are most concerned that voters will be prevented from voting by long lines or poll workers’ demanding unnecessary forms of identification.
Republicans say they are guarding against ineligible people trying to vote.
The parties are sending their largest concentrations of lawyers to states with the tightest races like Maryland, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Most of them are unpaid volunteers, though many from large firms are working pro bono to meet their firms’ expectation for hours of public service.
...It is not just parties gearing up.
In its largest mobilization ever for a non-presidential election, the Justice Department will dispatch about 800 lawyers to potentially troubled polling locations in 65 cities in 20 states to ensure voting rights laws are obeyed.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the N.A.A.C.P. and the People for the American Way Foundation will jointly have 2,000 lawyers fanning out across 20 states.
Here we are, in the 21st Century, 230 years into our nationhood, and we have to have lawyers on hand to ensure the integrity of our elections. And why is this?
Aside from new voter identification laws, new voter registration databases and so many close races, the rollout of electronic voting equipment provides an unusually high potential for suits during and after the election. [Emphasis added.]
The last three national elections have had enough "irregularities" that most of us don't trust the process for the reasons cited by the article. I think we can add to the list the various voter-list purges and other dirty-tricks tactics to suppress the vote.
What's next, asking for UN observers to be present at each precinct?
Shameful.
A team of lawyers for the Democratic Party has been arguing with postal officials in Columbus, Ohio, trying to persuade them to process thousands of absentee ballots that have arrived with insufficient postage.
In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party has opened a “recount account” and set aside $500,000 to pay lawyers who will answer telephones on Election Day and monitor polls to see whether officials demand proper voters’ identification. In Maryland, lawyers representing candidates for senator and governor from both parties met recently and swapped cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses to smooth out the logistics of potential litigation.
Democrats say they are most concerned that voters will be prevented from voting by long lines or poll workers’ demanding unnecessary forms of identification.
Republicans say they are guarding against ineligible people trying to vote.
The parties are sending their largest concentrations of lawyers to states with the tightest races like Maryland, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Most of them are unpaid volunteers, though many from large firms are working pro bono to meet their firms’ expectation for hours of public service.
...It is not just parties gearing up.
In its largest mobilization ever for a non-presidential election, the Justice Department will dispatch about 800 lawyers to potentially troubled polling locations in 65 cities in 20 states to ensure voting rights laws are obeyed.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the N.A.A.C.P. and the People for the American Way Foundation will jointly have 2,000 lawyers fanning out across 20 states.
Here we are, in the 21st Century, 230 years into our nationhood, and we have to have lawyers on hand to ensure the integrity of our elections. And why is this?
Aside from new voter identification laws, new voter registration databases and so many close races, the rollout of electronic voting equipment provides an unusually high potential for suits during and after the election. [Emphasis added.]
The last three national elections have had enough "irregularities" that most of us don't trust the process for the reasons cited by the article. I think we can add to the list the various voter-list purges and other dirty-tricks tactics to suppress the vote.
What's next, asking for UN observers to be present at each precinct?
Shameful.
Labels: Election 2006, Voter Fraud
posted by Diane at 3:30 AM
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