The Columbus Dispatch - Election: "Voter challenges halted"

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Voter challenges halted

A federal judge yesterday issued a temporary order preventing elections boards in Franklin and five other counties from hearing challenges that the Ohio GOP had filed against thousands of newly registered voters.

Ohio Democrats declared victory, saying they will seek to block any other county board from considering voter challenges - and even if the order were reversed later, there likely wouldn't be time for hearings before Tuesday's election.

The Franklin County Board of Elections has canceled 2,371 hearings set to start at 9 a.m. today, but officials cautioned voters that things might change.

"The bottom line to voters is to stay tuned," said Matthew Damschroder, board of elections director.

Nick A. Soulas Jr., an assistant Franklin County prosecutor, didn’t know if Prosecutor Ron O’Brien would appeal, but Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell will not, a spokesman said.

It was the latest legal development in the hard-fought presidential election in Ohio that already has generated several lawsuits and could produce many more if Tuesday’s outcome is as close as expected, experts say.

U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott yesterday granted a request by the Ohio Democratic Party to halt hearings called to verify the residency of new voters who had been sent mail that was returned as undeliverable.

Republicans suspect fraud and wanted boards to conditionally remove voters from the rolls if they don’t live where they are registered. Democrats argued mail also is returned for legitimate reasons, including someone serving in the military.

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