COLUMBUS – With the nation watching not just Ohio’s voters but its voting process, Tuesday marked another tumultuous day of bitter partisan accusations over the security of Ohio’s elections – with new lawsuits, press conferences, calls for investigations and court decisions.
……Late in the day – in a victory for Republicans – the full Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision made last week by three of its members. The result: Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must create computer programs to cross check all new voter registrations so that county boards of elections can doublecheck new registrants.
The Secretary of State will now have to verify new registrations by comparing information on them with data from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the Social Security Administration.
……Also Tuesday:
In Lebanon, a lawsuit was filed against ACORN by a conservative research group, claiming votes are being diluted by fake or duplicate registrations. The suit filed by two Warren County residents seeks to dissolve ACORN under the Corrupt Activity Act.
In Columbus, Mike Crites, a former U.S. Attorney and Republican candidate for Ohio attorney general, said ACORN should be investigated under the state or federal racketeering statutes for alleged fraud. “I’ve spent 20 years as a prosecutor so it’s not too hard to spot a bad apple – or in this case, a bad ACORN,” Crites said. If elected Nov. 4, Crites said his first day in office would be spent conferring with county prosecutors in large Ohio cities and Ohio’s federal prosecutors to begin gathering evidence of possible election fraud by ACORN and others.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections is checking whether ACORN fraudulently submitted multiple voter registrations for people who don’t exist; The board has received at least 10,000 duplicate voter registrations this year and possibly thousands of fictitious ones, deputy director John William said earlier. Julie Wilson, a spokeswoman for Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, said Tuesday she could not comment on cases, but said, “Any violation of Ohio law Joe is going to treat seriously.”
In Washington, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking the Department of Justice to immediately launch a nationwide criminal probe into ACORN’s voter registration activities and investigate ACORN as a “criminal enterprise.”
……In Ohio, illegal voting is a fourth-degree felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and six to 18 months in state prison. Getting caught for voter fraud in a federal election can result in five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
“I will urge prosecution,” Brunner said at a Columbus news conference.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081014/NEWS0106/310150008
Yeah right, Jenny. You are one of the roadblocks impeding the scrutiny of fraudulent voters.
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/dem-ohio-secretary-of-state-ordered-to-stop-breaking-the-law/
Include yourself as a defendent on the docket, sweetpea.