VA : NAACP sues over feared disenfranchisement

[Wretched Excess]

first of all the obvious;  it's a little difficult to detect a shortage of anything before it actually occurs.  but it's insane to solve a potential shortage in one place by creating a certain shortage in another.

NAACP sues over feared disenfranchisement
Complaint claims a shortage of polling places, materials

Virginia Democrats are sniping at one another ahead of next week's presidential election, laying the ground for a nasty internal spat if Sen. Barack Obama fails to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to prevail in the state since 1964.

The Virginia State Conference NAACP and Gov. Tim Kaine have locked horns over charges that black voters -- who are expected to vote overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama -- will be disenfranchised by a shortage of polling places and materials in areas where they predominate. Heavy voter turnout is expected Tuesday.

The NAACP and others filed a complaint Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, arguing that "the allocation of polling-place resources" by the state and its jurisdictions "is plainly irrational, nonuniform, and likely discriminatory." A court date has not been set for the suit.

Mr. Kaine brushed off the complaint during a radio appearance on WTOP, saying he welcomes the court review. "I would never say there's not going to be a single problem -- why jinx yourself? But I think we're very well prepared," he said.

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[Thor]

Can anybody sue another party for something that hasn't happened yet ??
 F'n Deet do Deets.....

[debk]

There was a guy from VA on Fox yesterday afternoon....that was a Representative - I think - from Virginia who was explaining this lawsuit. (he was black)

His primary complaint was that there were not enough voting machines for the "black population" (yes he said it that way) to vote without having "to stand in line for a lengthly time". It was "not fair that black people may have to stand in line longer than white people and therefore they may not vote because they won't want to stand in line a long time".

According to this man...."the suit was filed to get more voting machines into the "black areas" to avoid this problem and therefore make it fair to the black voter."

I can't remember who the Fox person was, but it was a woman.....and she read the numbers of the population in "white areas vs black areas" that were applicable to the lawsuit and said the voting machines per population was evenly matched. She told him they were equal.

He disagreed and said "that black people shouldn't have to stand in line to vote, they had other things to do.....and it would discourage them from voting."


Guess I'll complain at my polling place when I have to stand in line with the mothers and their little kids, the old people with their walkers and canes....my next door neighbors are black....wonder if they will complain?

[Jim]

suit is non-sense and thrown out
a) the numbers they are using are very old
b) the state has everyplace equipped at required levels

more recently they want to keep the polls open till 11.
no can do.  the legislature would have to pass a law to authorize someone to call for it and they're out campaigning.

screw it....

[whiffleball]

There was a guy from VA on Fox yesterday afternoon....that was a Representative - I think - from Virginia who was explaining this lawsuit. (he was black)

His primary complaint was that there were not enough voting machines for the "black population" (yes he said it that way) to vote without having "to stand in line for a lengthly time". It was "not fair that black people may have to stand in line longer than white people and therefore they may not vote because they won't want to stand in line a long time".

According to this man...."the suit was filed to get more voting machines into the "black areas" to avoid this problem and therefore make it fair to the black voter."

I can't remember who the Fox person was, but it was a woman.....and she read the numbers of the population in "white areas vs black areas" that were applicable to the lawsuit and said the voting machines per population was evenly matched. She told him they were equal.

He disagreed and said "that black people shouldn't have to stand in line to vote, they had other things to do.....and it would discourage them from voting."


Guess I'll complain at my polling place when I have to stand in line with the mothers and their little kids, the old people with their walkers and canes....my next door neighbors are black....wonder if they will complain?

So, white folks, red folks, brown folks and yellow folks also don't have other things to do?  Geez Louise!  What's next?

[Wretched Excess]

suit is non-sense and thrown out
a) the numbers they are using are very old
b) the state has everyplace equipped at required levels

more recently they want to keep the polls open till 11.
no can do.  the legislature would have to pass a law to authorize someone to call for it and they're out campaigning.

screw it....

yep, that is their next ploy;  to keep the polls open later:

Wilder wants longer voting hours

RICHMOND, Va. —
The nation's first elected black governor asked Virginia's governor on Wednesday to keep Election Day polls open for three extra hours to accommodate an expected huge turnout.

Virginia is a battleground state with 13 of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidential election. That, combined with a record spike in voter registrations, has officials bracing for an overwhelming number of voters Tuesday.

L. Douglas Wilder, who was Virginia governor from 1990-94 and is now Richmond's mayor, said the surge in voters because of the historic election between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama needs to be accommodated at the polls. He asked Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a fellow Democrat, to extend hours until 10 p.m. Polls are now set to be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"The presidential election of 2008 is expected to generate historic turnout," Wilder said in a statement released by the mayor's office.

State officials, however, say state law does not empower a governor to alter the hours of a presidential election.

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[Chris_]

I am going to sue W.E since I am pretty sure he will build up the Dodgers again next year and, after he gets me all excited and optimistic, they will lose again (but not as badly as the Lakers did against the Celtics), causing me severe emotional distress.

I want presumptive relief, dammit!  And it is clear I have a legal avenue to pursue to get it.

[Wretched Excess]

the VA state board of elections says that the lawsuit is crap.  interesting and encouraging note about the military absentee vote will be counted even if their are clerical errors.

Va. elections officials say they’re prepared to handle huge turnout

The State Board of Elections today adopted a proposal to allow absentee ballots filed by overseas military voters to be counted if state law is not followed.

This follows an Attorney General’s opinion that federal law supersedes state law. About 130 absentee ballots had been rejected in Fairfax County.

Also today, the board vigorously defended itself against an 11th hour lawsuit charging that the state is not prepared in minority precincts to handle the large number of voters expected on election day.

Jean Cunningham, chairwoman of the board, said every precinct in the state meets the statutory requirements of registered voter per voting machine.

She said the information on which the lawsuit is based is dated and incorrect.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Virginia is “extremely well-prepared” to handle the long lines and historic turnout expected at the polls across the commonwealth.

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[Wretched Excess]

I am going to sue W.E since I am pretty sure he will build up the Dodgers again next year and, after he gets me all excited and optimistic, they will lose again (but not as badly as the Lakers did against the Celtics), causing me severe emotional distress.

I want presumptive relief, dammit!  And it is clear I have a legal avenue to pursue to get it.

  rotsa ruck.

[Lauri]

deja vu..


didnt this happen in 04? the Dems didnt get enough machines in their locations and people werent allowed to vote cause the clock ran out?

as i recall, the dems organizers blamed everybody but themselves ...


why dont we ever hear about this in conservative areas? 

[Chris_]

:rofl:  rotsa ruck. :-)

Mine is not a qualitative argument, merely a legal one.

[Wretched Excess]

deja vu..


didnt this happen in 04? the Dems didnt get enough machines in their locations and people werent allowed to vote cause the clock ran out?

as i recall, the dems organizers blamed everybody but themselves ...


why dont we ever hear about this in conservative areas? 

yep.  it's getting more and more common.  I know it happened in St Louis county in '04.  I think it's even the same judge that orders the polls there to stay open late every election. 

[Lauri]

yep.  it's getting more and more common.  I know it happened in St Louis county in '04.  I think it's even the same judge that orders the polls there to stay open late every election. 

is it always dem areas? youd think with the messiah's vast amounts of wealth, he'd put a voting machine on every street corner in Dem neighborhoods.

[Wretched Excess]

is it always dem areas? youd think with the messiah's vast amounts of wealth, he'd put a voting machine on every street corner in Dem neighborhoods.

minority areas.  the temporary restraining order to keep the polls open is always made on a civil rights basis, which is the only way the federal courts have any jurisdiction on poll times.

[Lauri]

minority areas.  the temporary restraining order to keep the polls open is always made on a civil rights basis, which is the only way the federal courts have any jurisdiction on poll times.

ah, hence the messiah telling people to skip work .. smart move..

seriously, i sense desparation. he's in the same states as McCain, hour after hour... methinks the polls are not as they are being reported. 

[Wretched Excess]

ah, hence the messiah telling people to skip work .. smart move..

seriously, i sense desparation. he's in the same states as McCain, hour after hour... methinks the polls are not as they are being reported. 

yeah, but other than PA, they are both in RED states.  that's not great news for us.

and I think the polls are absolute crap this year.  there simply isn't a turnout model for what is happening right now, and the polls are turning themselves into a big unintelligible mess trying to force one. 

[Lauri]

yeah, but other than PA, they are both in RED states.  that's not great news for us.

and I think the polls are absolute crap this year.  there simply isn't a turnout model for what is happening right now, and the polls are turning themselves into a big unintelligible mess trying to force one. 

jeff's been out of town at a conference in Los Angeles since last Friday. pretty much all the good stuff has happened since then and he asked me what the polls were saying.

i said, 'who the hell knows?' every outlet says something different and we dont know what the universe is that theyre sampling.

the WSJ stated that conservatives are less likely to want to answer phone polls so that makes the dems more weighted - the whole thing is truly not scientific. but every news outlet, even FOX, acts like polling is the be all end all.

well, if we believed the polls, then Kerry should have just finished up his first term. 

[Wretched Excess]

jeff's been out of town at a conference in Los Angeles since last Friday. pretty much all the good stuff has happened since then and he asked me what the polls were saying.

i said, 'who the hell knows?' every outlet says something different and we dont know what the universe is that theyre sampling.

the WSJ stated that conservatives are less likely to want to answer phone polls so that makes the dems more weighted - the whole thing is truly not scientific. but every news outlet, even FOX, acts like polling is the be all end all.

well, if we believed the polls, then Kerry should have just finished up his first term. 

until election night, the polls are all the MSM has to report, and so they sponsor opinion polls and report the shit out of them.  they love the "horserace" angle to presidential elections . . .

I just hope our people at diebold still have the password to VRWC sOoPeR sEkRit election theft machine.

[debk]

I still think that what people are saying when polled is different than what they will actually do in the voting booth....particularly this year.

[Wretched Excess]

the NAACP withdrew it's lawsuit yesterday, by the way.