In a victory for voting rights and common sense, Marion County, Indiana has agreed that 200 Indiana residents will not be blocked from the polls just because they registered using a slightly-different registration form from previous election cycles.
As we reported yesterday, Project Vote filed an emergency lawsuit against Secretary of State Todd Rokita and the Marion County Board of Elections on behalf of Drametra Brown, an Indianapolis nursing assistant whose registration was rejected because she filled out a 2004 registration form. The 2004 was slightly but not substantially different from the 2008 form, but Marion County had said they could not accept it because it lacked two small (and redundant) check boxes.
In a hearing before a judge yesterday afternoon in Indianapolis, the Marion County board agreed to allow Drametra and the other registrants who correctly submitted their registrations on an older form to vote today. There's no time to get them on the official rolls, so they will cast provisional ballots, but by court order all of these ballots will be counted.
Drametra Brown grew up in Indianapolis, attended Broad Ripple High School, and spent most of her life in the city. Now 37 and a certified nursing assistant, Drametra works with senior citizens at Alpha Home, an Indianapolis nursing home. Drametra had never voted before, but this year was different, and when a fellow staff member and good Samaritan Lisa Hamilton, Alpha Home's Admissions Director, handed out blank registration forms she had in her office to sign up elderly residents in late September, Drametra and other employees signed up as well.
I mentioned yesterday the brewing legal battle over early voting access in Lake County, but I thought I would revisit the issue this morning to provide a little more background on what we are dealing with here. From what I have been able to gather, this is where we are.
After the Lake County Election Board voted 3-2 to allow early voting at additional sites in the northern portion of the county, the Republicans sought to receive a temporary restraining order. Now, the Indiana Code seems pretty clear on the need for this appeal to be filed in the circuit court, but the Republicans instead filed their challenge the Lake Superior Court.
Why did they do this? Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that they knew a Democratic judge was presiding over the circuit, or maybe they just thought that Judge Calvin Hawkins -- a recent Daniels appointee -- would give them a more receptive ear. Regardless, the Lake County Election Board immediately moved to have the issue transfered to federal court.
At this point, the matter should have been out of the state court's hands, but Judge Hawkins, no doubt under the influence of some convincing arguments from the GOP lawyers, granted the restraining order. This essentially amounted to spitting in the face of the federal court, which in my limited understanding of the law, is not a great idea.
Judge Van Bokkelen, the federal judge (and Bush appointee) who received the case, was apparently not amused. He called a hearing Friday afternoon and rather quickly vacated the state court's decision, recessing the hearing until this coming Thursday.
This brings us to where we are now. The Republicans have successfully stopped the opening of early vote sites in the northern, low-income portion of the county, at least until Friday. The court will convene on Thursday to hear arguments, which will likely revolve around some variety of a Voting Rights Act violation. We have a county where those least able to travel are being given the greatest burden, while those most well off are allowed to vote with relative ease. Or, in essence, the Democratic Party representatives will be arguing for greater voting access, and the Republicans will be fighting against this rather simple principle. Sound familiar? I thought so.
This is not just an issue for those of you in the region. This is a case that speaks to the Democratic Party's ideals in general, and we all have a stake in seeing the right and just outcome on Thursday. I'll bring more information as it becomes available in the coming days.
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