Let’s Fix the Voting System Now, Not Later

[WhiskeyGirl]

Let’s Fix the Voting System Now, Not Later

It’s Time to Validate Voter Registration

By Lis Wiehl
FOX News Legal Analyst/Former Prosecutor

Editor’s Note: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Friday, October 17, granting her a stay to a temporary restraining order from a federal appeals court that ordered her to provide a system for implementing voter fraud prevention methods. To read more on Foxnews.com click here.

As John McCain and Barack Obama prepare for the final sprint after wrapping up Wednesday’s presidential debate, it appears Ohio’s Democratic Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, is running a race of her own. On late Wednesday evening, Brunner filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to block a decision handed down Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The Sixth Circuit directed Brunner to hand over to local election officials ready and direct access to computerized lists of new voters whose registrations do not match state driver records or Social Security information. A 2002 federal law required states to create a statewide database of voter registration information and to verify new voter information by matching such information with other public records.

Since January, over 650,000 newly registered voters in Ohio have been turned into the state and it is estimated that 200,000 of them have mismatched data. Brunner, however, contends that there are multiple reasons why applications are mismatched and warned that a new process of verification could lead to disenfranchising voters. Specifically, in her appeal, Brunner argued, “If the Sixth Circuit’s decision is allowed to stand, an untold number of legitimate voters in Ohio will be forced to re-establish the bona fides of their vote before the county board of elections, or they will stay home out of frustration or confusion.” Brunner further states that upholding Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit would create havoc on Election Day and cause many voters to cast “provisional” ballots that may or may not ultimately be tallied depending on judgments by local elections boards.

While both parties should be applauded for bringing out the vote, there is little doubt that Ohio’s voting system has not done enough to fulfill the anti-fraud objective. A basic tenet of our democratic system is to ensure a fair election in which every eligible voter can cast a ballot and all ballots are counted. And notwithstanding evidence suggesting voter impersonation fraud at the polling place, the risk remains that people’s votes may go uncounted due to unfair practices of voter purging. Such a situation would ultimately underscore the need for a system in which the government shoulders its fair share of responsibility to ensure that American are properly registered and stay registered.

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/10/17/lwiehl_1017/

[Slogger]

A 2002 federal law required states to create a statewide database of voter registration information and to verify new voter information by matching such information with other public records.

The intent of the Law is clear.  Ohio Secretary of State Brunner must believe it's busy work.  You check the registrations against the data base and include or exclude the registrant.

If Brunner is not seeing that the above is done, she should be removed from office on the spot.  Now the Supreme Court says Brunner doesn't have to do it.

The activities have been going on for years. . . years!  It's beyond enough; it's disgusting; it's malfeasance.