« Law - Fort Wayne paper's editorial on "The right to vote" | Main | Courts - "Election Law Litigation — Everyone’s Doing It" »
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Ind. Law - "Lake County officials to decide long lines issue during election meeting Saturday"
Bill Dolan reports today in the NWI Times:
CROWN POINT | Lake County elections officials are debating whether long lines anticipated at polling places on Election Day should be deemed a voting emergency.Democratic members of the county elections board want poll workers to be able to pass out emergency paper ballots if voters threaten to leave because of long waits.
Republican board members question whether the law permits emergency ballots to be used for any reason other than failure of electronic machines at polling places.
It is another facet of the monthlong dispute that has divided the Lake County elections board between Republicans protesting efforts to expand voting accessibility out of fears of vote fraud and Democrats claiming Republicans are trying to suppress the Democratic voter turnout.
The board put off the question of approving emergency ballots until its final election meeting Saturday to give lawyers for both parties time to research the law.
Michelle Fajman, county elections supervisor, said, "There is no doubt in my mind you will have long lines Tuesday wherever you go."
Thus far, waits at early voting locations have ranged from one hour in Crown Point to more than three hours in Gary. * * *
Jim Brown, a Republican elections board member, said, "The polls are open 12 hours. If the law says emergency ballots should only be for machine failure, then I don't know how this board can go beyond the power of what the statute authorizes."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 30, 2008 08:15 AM
Posted to Indiana Law