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November 01, 2004
Judge bars challengers at Ohio polls
CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) -- A federal judge Monday barred political party challengers from questioning Ohio voters' registrations at the polls on Election Day.
The state Republican Party immediately said it would challenge the judge's ruling in hopes of having the order overturned in time for Tuesday's election in Ohio, an important battleground state that could throw the presidential contest either way. (Showdown state Ohio, Electoral College explainer)
Polls show President Bush and his Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry virtually tied. Ohio is among six battleground states showing voters almost evenly split in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Sunday (CNN.com Poll Tracker, opinion poll figures)
The Republican Party has said it wants its challengers at polls to prevent voter fraud, as allowed by state law.
Following a rare Sunday night hearing on the issue, U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott said that allowing inexperienced challengers to question voters' registrations at the polls would disrupt the election process.
According to the judge's ruling, Republicans in Ohio filed "for hundreds of challengers to be physically present in the polling places in order to challenge voters' eligibility."
In her ruling, Dlott said that there are sufficient safeguards against voter fraud in place with precinct election judges appointed by county election boards and that "disruption of this system by over 1,100 lawyers who have no experience in the process" would impede voting.
Mark Weaver, attorney for the state Republican Party, said an appeal of Dlott's ruling would be filed Monday morning.
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Posted by State at November 1, 2004 04:04 PM
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