10.24.08
Bush Intervenes in Ohio Voter Case
As reported today in “Bush Orders DOJ to Probe Ohio Voter Registrations” on the news site, The Public Record:
President George W. Bush has asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether 200,000 newly registered voters in the battleground state of Ohio would have to reconfirm their voter registration information, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on last week.
The unprecedented intervention by the White House less than two weeks before the presidential election may result in at least 200,000 newly registered voters in Ohio not being able to vote on Election Day if they are forced to provide additional identification when they head to the polls.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Bush Friday asking that he order the Department of Justice to probe the matter.
…Boehner said in his letter: “Unless action is taken by the [US Justice] Department immediately, thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of names whose information has not been verified…will remain on the voter rolls during the November 4 election; and there is a significant risk if not a certainty, that unlawful votes will be cast and counted….”
…Boehner wrote to Mukasey Monday and wrote to Bush when his query to the attorney general went unanswered, he said.
…A federal appeals court recently ordered Ohio election officials to help counties set up a computer system to ensure the veracity of voter registrations. [See story on CNN.com] …Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the case and dismissed the lower court’s ruling. [See story on CBSNews.com]
And speaking of such things, the Brennan Center for Justice is maintaining an ongoing investigation of “the voter suppression tactics unfolding as America faces another presidential election.” It’s called 2008’s Voter Suppression Incidents So Far, and it’s hosted over at AlterNet.
Look sharp, fellow citizens — this is just the tip of the dirty tricks iceberg. The Republican war on voting has been decried in recent editorials in august papers like the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times, which went so far as to issue a call to “fight for their right to cast a ballot” and gave the toll-free number of the voter rights group Election Protection to call if you discover you’ve been wrongly disenfranchised. (The number is 1-866-OUR-VOTE, by the way).
