CINCINNATI—A federal appeals court sided with Ohio's top elections official Friday in her running battle with Republicans over how to verify the eligibility of newly registered voters.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a federal judge's order a day earlier that Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner institute the means to verify voter registration information and make it available to Ohio's 88 county election boards.
Brunner argued that it would take two to three days to create the necessary computer programs, and that nothing in the Help America Vote Act required her to do what the lower court ordered. A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed in a split decision.
"With less than a month until the election, and less than two weeks until the beginning of counting absentee ballots, the secretary cannot be required to undertake the extensive reprogramming and other changes to the election mechanics without complete disruption of the electoral process in Ohio," the majority said in its opinion. "The irreparable harm to the voting public caused by the district court's order is equally clear."
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge George C. Smith in Columbus ordered Brunner to verify new registrations by matching information on them against a database maintained by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the Social Security Administration. He also ordered her to establish a process by which the county boards can access the information generated by the checks.
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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/10/11/appeals_court_sides_with_ohio_secretary_of_state/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
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