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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ind. Decisions - Still more on: Decision in the Lake County early voting case

Updating this entry from yesterday, updated here, there are additional stories today. John Byrne of the Gary Post-Tribune reports:

HAMMOND -- Early voting will continue in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago, but the hotly debated issue now is headed for the state Supreme Court.

Ruling in favor of the early voting sites Wednesday, Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider said harm to union members, the NAACP and others who've argued in favor of the remote sites "outweighs the harm to the (Republican) plaintiffs."

The judge said inadequate public transportation in Lake County makes it "difficult if not impossible" for people to get to Crown Point, where early voting is offered at the county government center.

Timothy Sendak, attorney for Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley, said the plaintiffs will appeal Schneider's ruling today, straight to the Indiana Supreme Court.

"This is a matter of great public importance," Sendak said, "and it needs to be settled quickly."

The issue has become a legal war of attrition in recent weeks, as Democrats and Republicans fight for Indiana, a surprising battleground state in the upcoming election. * * *

Some 1,956 votes were cast at the three disputed sites by the end of business Tuesday -- 962 in Gary, 511 in East Chicago and 483 in Hammond.

Republican attorneys have suggested those votes might be in jeopardy because of the questionable legality of the polling sites.

But in her decision published Wednesday, Schneider ruled that all early votes cast so far are valid, except where there is evidence of vote fraud.

She also said because early voting is confined to the Clerk's Office locations in the three cities, it was legal for the Democratic majority on the Lake County Election Board to enact the plan over the objections of Republican members.

But Sendak disagreed. He said the election board violated the law by acting without a unanimous vote.

"The laws are to be made by an elected legislature, not by appointees and others who were not elected," Sendak said.

Schneider said she lacks jurisdiction to order early voting centers be opened in other parts of Lake County, but said she would do so if she could.

The judge said Republicans should have argued for remote voting in GOP strongholds when the election board was considering the matter.

The Indianapolis Star today carries an AP story by Tom Coyne. A quote:
Kavadias Schneider acknowledged that "regrettably, Lake County has had a history of public corruption and voter fraud." But she said several safeguards are in place, including a state law requiring voters to present photo identification, and access to registration checks through a state voter database.

The judge noted that travel to Crown Point from Gary, Hammond and East Chicago is impractical and challenged the plaintiffs and their attorneys to go to certain intersections in each city and attempt to travel to Crown Point by public transportation.

"It is highly probable that they would find it difficult, if not impossible, to do so," wrote Kavadias Schneider, who was named by the Indiana Supreme Court to hear the case.

ABC News had a report last evening; access it here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 23, 2008 08:08 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions