Ohio Judge Rules Punch - Card Voting Fair

[Khephra]

Ohio Judge Rules Punch - Card Voting Fair
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: December 15, 2004


Filed at 12:33 p.m. ET

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Voting rights are not denied to those who use punch-card ballots, a federal judge ruled in the nation's first trial to challenge the system blamed for woes in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the punch-card system is error-prone and ballots are more likely to go uncounted than votes cast in other ways. The group claimed Ohio violated the voting rights of blacks, who predominantly live in punch-card counties.

U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr. disagreed.

``All voters in a county, regardless of race, use the same voting system to cast a ballot, and no one is denied the opportunity to cast a valid vote because of their race,'' Dowd said in his ruling Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Ohio-Vote.html

[Poppyseedman]

1. U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr

Dowd, David Dudley Jr.

Born January 31, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio

Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on August 24, 1982, to a seat vacated by Leroy John, Jr. Contie;
Confirmed by the Senate on September 22, 1982, and received commission on September 23,1982.
Assumed senior status on June 30, 1996.

Education:
College of Wooster, B.A., 1951
University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1954

Professional Career:

Private practice, Massillon, Ohio, 1954-1955
U.S. Army JAG Corps (January 1955 to December 1957)
Private practice, Massillon, Ohio, 1957-1975
Councilman-at-large, City of Massillon, Ohio, 1960
Assistant prosecuting attorney, Stark County, Ohio, 1961-1967
Prosecuting attorney, Stark County, Ohio 1967-1975
Judge, Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, 1975-1980
Justice, Ohio Supreme Court, 1980-1981
Private practice, Canton, Ohio, 1981-1982
Member of the FJC Board - 1988 to 1992
Member of Criminal Rules Advisory Committee - 1994 to 2001
Liaison Member for Criminal Rules Committee to
Evidence Rules Committee - 1996 to 2001

Whoever wrote that first sentence in the article should be fired. My dog could write a better sentence.

[Liberty Belle]

2. Well, I've got to admit, compared to those other machines...

Punch cards don't seem quite so bad. At least you can count the hanging chads. With the paperless voting machines, we can never find out if votes were rigged, dropped, added or changed.

[VegasWolf]

5. Really! n/t

[talk hard]

3. At least the punch card ballots are tangible.

It's the EVMs that are the vehicle for vote corruption because of no paper trail.

[haifagirl1]

4. STRIKE 1

I figure the next two will be in 2 - 3 weeks!