Obama campaign claims ballots ran short in some Cleveland precincts

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Obama campaign claims ballots ran short in some Cleveland precincts

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1204709594137420.xml&coll=2


Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

Claims by the Barack Obama campaign Tuesday that ballots ran short in some predominantly black Cleveland precincts persuaded a federal judge to keep 20 precincts open an extra 90 minutes and once again opened Cuyahoga County to criticism that it suppresses the black vote.

The Obama campaign declined to say whether anybody was denied a ballot, and county elections officials and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said everybody who wanted a ballot got one.

Brunner charged that the Obama campaign targeted precincts where it could get extra votes by staying open...



Asked on what basis the lawsuit was filed, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said, "We received reports from a number of Cleveland precincts about ballot shortages and outages."..



Few voted at places kept open after 7:30 p.m.

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/


...She described the Obama campaign's allegations as "somewhat sketchy" and said it appeared that the campaign picked precincts where they could "pad votes."

Brunner said she had no information to indicate that any Cuyahoga precincts ran out of ballots.




http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS09/803050442

...Throughout the day - and long before ballots ran out - the politicking between the Clinton and Obama campaigns continued with allegations of improper behavior at the polls by supporters of each candidate.

The Clinton campaign fired the first missive, sending off a statement to the media claiming that some of Mr. Obama's poll watchers were reprimanded or removed, either for wearing campaign paraphernalia or "aggressively challenging voters."

"While we expect voting to run smoothly, we have heard troubling reports of irregularities by Senator Obama's campaign across the state," said Robby Mook, the director of Mrs. Clinton's campaign in Ohio.

The Obama campaign fired back, accusing Mrs. Clinton's campaign of trying to "depress turnout" because of Mr. Obama's gains in recent state polls. The campaign cited reports of Republican and independent voters illegally being denied Democratic ballots and voter identification requirements being misstated at polling locations...






Cuyahoga's Election Day count complete
Posted by [e-mail] March 05, 2008 05:51AM

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/03/cuyahogas_election_day_count_c.html



...Elections workers counted the 406,450th - and final - vote of the day nearly 10 hours after most of the county's polls closed. A nasty winter storm and a court ruling keeping 20 precincts open until 9 p.m. complicated the night.

Some ballots didn't reach the central counting site until after 1 a.m., when officials said three trucks still awaited unloading.

But overall, the count went smoothly - especially compared to recent elections in the county. More than 165 workers processed the ballots in efficient fashion. The first ballots arrived to cheers at 9:44 p.m. It took more than seven hours to complete the task.

"We put respect back into the election process in Cuyahoga County today," said Jane Platten, the county's elections director.




Cuyahoga County voters complain ballot secrecy was compromised

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1204709640137420.xml&coll=2

Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Patrick O'Donnell
Plain Dealer Reporter

How secret was your ballot Tuesday?

Well, that depends.

Many Cuyahoga County voters complained their privacy was compromised as they turned in their ballots. Many voters had no way to shield the filled-out ballot from spying eyes, whether they were poll workers or other voters in line.

"My ballot was exposed for the 20 feet I carried it back to the precinct table, easily read by the poll worker who removed the receipt, and easily seen, or even photographed by a cell phone camera, by others," said Charles Hoppel of Broadview Heights, who said his wife filed a complaint with poll workers...


Ohio law calls for all voting to be done in "absolute secrecy" and to be set up so "no person can see or know for whom any other elector has voted or is voting, except an elector who is assisting a voter."

Laughlin McDonald, director of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he is not familiar with the ballots used, but stressed that ballots should be private...



rticle published Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Did 'SNL' influence Obama coverage?

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS09/803050456/-1/NEWS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Life imitating art or just a coincidence? A study of campaign coverage found the media took a sharper look at Barack Obama the week after Saturday Night Live spoofed journalists enthralled by his candidacy.

The NBC comedy show's Feb. 23 broadcast opened with a mock debate in which journalists were rough on Hillary Clinton while being starry-eyed about Mr. Obama. It matched complaints the Clinton campaign had made - and she even referred to the comedy skit during a debate last week.

During the week, Mr. Obama was the dominant person in 69 percent of presidential campaign stories, according to a study by Project for Excellence in Journalism. That's the biggest percentage one candidate had received in any week this year.

Many of the stories took a tough look at Mr. Obama, such as a Feb. 25 ABC World News study on his Illinois legislative record and a CBS Evening News report on his career three nights later...