Thursday, October 02, 2008

Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Favor of McCain

While I was on the road, I noted this post at Gateway Pundit talking about voting irregularities in the making in Ohio. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner apparently behind three voting-related decisions.
  1. A new rule that lets people register and vote the same day.
  2. Observers will be banned from polling stations.
  3. Deny absentee ballots that failed to have a box checked.
In a little bit of good news, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that in the case of number three, the ballots have to be counted. Now I'm not exactly why that news is good news for McCain. They surely haven't counted the ballots yet, right? I'm thinking that they must be ballots from oversea military personnel and that vote is surely going to McCain. If that is the case, the Democrats really have to stop making efforts to disenfranchise military personnel. That attitude combined with trying to get felons to vote could eventually turn the media against them. OK, maybe not, but I can dream, can't I?

The other two points on Gateway Pundit's list are disturbing. I know in Colorado if you aren't registered by October 6, you aren't voting. This gives state officials time to actually make sure the registrations are proper. And not allowing observers in the polling stations ranks right up there with "not requiring identification" to vote. Arguments that people will be intimidated by observers is nonsensical. Every time I have voted, some people behind a desk have confirmed that I am indeed registered. Aren't these people more intimidating than some observer?

I might hold out hope that a suit could be brought concerning these other two points. But in the case of same-day registrations, it is probably too late. They are only open for a short period and during that period Bruce Springsteen will be performing at Ohio State in a huge voter registration effort.

Is there any doubt that, given the desperation showing in Ohio by the Democrats, that McCain still leads despite his national polling difficulties?

1 comment:

Sarah said...

I am deeply concerned about the 2nd item, banning observers. It is absolutely IMPERATIVE that observers are there, AS THEY HAVE BEEN, for decades -- perhaps longer? I find it unacceptable that the watchdogs, the one that can cry foul on both sides, will have no vision into the way votes are cast.

Watch Hacking Democracy, we need all of the supervision and oversight possible.

The same day voting is what they do in Canada and many other countries so that does not concern me as much...