Wednesday, October 27, 2004

6th Circuit Reverses District Court Ruling on Michigan ballots

As reported in the Detroit News: Court reverses ruling on ballots:

Provisional ballots cast outside the precinct where a Michigan voter lives cannot be counted, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The quick decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court ruling that provisional ballots in the presidential race and other federal offices should be counted as long as the voter cast the ballot in the right city, township or village.


Guess who is upset:
The Michigan Democratic Party, which filed suit to have the provisional ballots counted even when voters showed up at the wrong precinct, will not appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, party Chairman Mark Brewer said the lawsuit is still pending and could be resumed after the election if necessary.

"We're disappointed that the court has put its stamp of approval, at least temporarily, on these state directives which will disenfranchise voters next week," Brewer said.


Disenfranchise - ha!- the decision closed an open door to massive electoral fraud.

If you're not smart enough to go to the polling precinct listed on your registration card you're simply too stupid to vote. Allowing people to vote wherever they wished opened the door to massive fraud. This ruling at least closes one channel for fraud and helps to restore confidence in the electoral process.

Now if we could just require photo id at the polling booth.....

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