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Oct
21
Makes you hope that wonders will, in fact, never cease.
From the Plain Dealer’s OPENERS’ blog, first:
Columbus-area GOP fund-raiser David Myhal has dropped his case — before a single hearing — in which he hoped to get the Ohio Supreme Court to force Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, to undertake a massive double-check of new voter registrants. One of Myhal’s attorneys tells The Plain Dealer that Myhal decided the flurry of litigation needed to end.
I wrote about this case on Monday.
Second, Ohio Republican Party Chair Bob Bennett, who, along with his deputy, Kevin DeWine, have repeatedly described Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s actions as partisan, even as members of their party have initiated multiple legal actions related to voter registration, now says,
“We didn’t file this lawsuit, but I’ve asked that it be withdrawn in the interest of negotiating a solution out of court,” Ohio Republican chairman Bob Bennett said in a statement. “The legal wrangling on this issue has gone on long enough.”
The Ohio GOP hopes to meet today with state Attorney General Nancy Rogers “to begin a dialogue” on ways to validate questionable voter registrations, Bennett said. “While she understandably could not make any guarantees, we have agreed to meet on Wednesday to begin discussions in good faith. I’m hopeful that we can work together on a solution that will give Ohioans greater confidence in the integrity of this election.”
The PD report was filed at about 5:30pm but I’ll see what I can dredge up about any meeting.
Third, and last:
Now there are no suits. Nevertheless, the majority of Republican Congress members from Ohio today wrote to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking that the Justice Department get involved to force [Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer] Brunner to make the checks. Republicans say she is obligated to under the Help America Vote Act.
Two U.S. House Republicans from Ohio were missing from that request to Mukasey: Steve LaTourette of Bainbridge Township and Michael Turner of Dayton. Debbie Setliff, spokeswoman for LaTourette, said, “He thought it was already before the courts and didn’t feel the need to weigh in on it.”
Brunner believes that HAVA does not obligate her office to conduct the checks:
Brunner has contended for weeks that while she has made tools available for Ohio’s 88 elections boards to do their own checks of new registrants, she is not legally bound to do the checks in her office. Voter rights groups say that typos and bad addresses on registration forms rarely result in a fraudlulent vote, and Democrats contend that the GOP is creating a smoke screen in order to challenge the voting rights of thousands of Democratic voters.
Jeff Coryell of Ohio Daily Blog wrote a superb post today about the hard fighting of the Ohio GOP.
What precipitated this detente isn’t clear, but the Democrats, bloggers, organizations, and no doubt the 88 board of elections’ members are making it clear that we have to put Ohioans first. As an Ohioan, I feel that we must make this work. I’m extremely exhausted from feeling as though our state is such an anamoly when it comes to these political manueverings and seemingly indefatiguable challenges from the GOP this year.
Who knows, maybe they consumed a little chicken soup for the swing state soul.
FYI: The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the case.
Additional info about the meeting with the Ohio AG, from the Columbus Dispatch:
…although Rogers spokesman Jim Gravelle confirmed a meeting is scheduled, Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega said it was “not a settlement meeting.”
“I am pleased that this matter has been withdrawn,” Brunner said in a statement. “Ohio boards of elections would have faced grave challenges to successfully administering orderly and fair elections had this court action been successful.
“While we do not believe the action had merit, the perils of litigation subject Ohio voters to a crisis in confidence and undue anxiety with every twist and turn of events,” Brunner said. “It is my hope that both parties will now come together to support Ohio’s bipartisan election system without further interference.”
The Election Law Blog links to the order which indicates that the case was dismissed without prejudice.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:54 pm October 21st, 2008 in Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008
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4 Responses to “Cease-fire in effect for Ohio voter registration lawsuits”
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It was a good thing that the registration fraud was detected early. Hope the elections there will push through on the fourth.
The more they talk about it the more people think about it and the more likely people find ways to increase the power of their vote. It’s all about power and control.
It is possible to vote in more than one state, so there someday should be one system to ensure one vote per person. If a person is in college in another state they could vote in both, in person in one and by mail in the other. I am sure some do.
This whole thing played on people and the inherent faults in any process and people in general not understanding the process. The propensity to jump to conclusions and then the media sensationalizing and politicizing it.
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