On October 23, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division (3rd department) ruled that when voters own two homes, they are free to choose which one to use as their voting residence. Here is the decision, Willkie v Delaware County Board of Elections, no. 504004. Thank to Bill Van Allen for the link.
On October 20, the Georgia Supreme Court heard Handel v Powell, in which the Republican Secretary of State argues that Democratic Public Service Commissioner candidate Jim Powell should be removed from the ballot. Ten days have passed and the Court hasn’t issued any order. Here is an article about the controversy.
On October 20, the Georgia Supreme Court heard Handel v Powell, in which the Republican Secretary of State argues that Democratic Public Service Commissioner candidate Jim Powell should be removed from the ballot. Ten days have passed and the Court hasn’t issued any order. Here is an article about the controversy.
On October 29, U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle, a Bush Sr. appointee, issued an injunction, requiring Pennsylvania to furnish emergency paper ballots to any precinct at which at least half the electronic vote-counting machines have broken down. NAACP v Cortes, 08-cv-5048.
The state’s position had been that it would only provide such paper ballots to precincts in which all the machines had ceased to work. The decision says, “Some waiting in line, of course, is inevitable and must be expected. One must always choose between and among a number of candidates for different offices listed on the ballot and often, as in this election, there are questions to be read and considered. All of this takes time. Nonetheless, there can come a point when the burden of standing in a queue ceases to be an inconvenience or annoyance and becomes a constitutional violation because it, in effect, denies a person the right to exercise his or her franchise.” Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news.
On October 30, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin will debate each other at the Cleveland (Ohio) City Club, between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. The City Club is at 850 Euclid Ave, on the 2nd floor. All three participants have confirmed they will be there. Cynthia McKinney, Barack Obama, and John McCain are also invited.
