Courage lawyers vs. LA Registrar
| By Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign - Feb 4th, 2008 at 7:12 pm PST |
| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
Given the truncated timetable between now and 7am tomorrow when polls open, the options available to remedy the current situation in Los Angeles are relatively limited. But after talking with the Registrar's office earlier today, the Courage Campaign's lawyers memorialized the discussion, including steps that are now necessary:
Mr. Logan and Mr. Finley,
I write to memorialize our conversation earlier and to outline a number of responses that your office should immediately undertake to remedy a situation that will have the potential of disenfranchising a great number of voters who are trying to navigate a voting process that is already confusing to many.
We have confirmed with your office that in fact, voters who have not marked circles 5 or 6 and who have requested a partisan ballot will not have their vote counted. We have also confirmed that the Inka-Vote system, as implemented, will be unable to tabulate their votes for President and that in effect, those votes will be lost completely.
Our client, Courage Campaign, therefore demands that the Los Angeles County Registrar-Record/County Clerk and the Secretary of State immediately implement the following:
1.) Distribute recorded messages from the Registrar's office to Decline to State/Nonpartisan voters reminding them that they must fill in circle numbers 5 or 6 (the bubble stating they are voting Democratic or AI) if they request a Democratic or American Independent ballot. The notice should also inform them that failure to do so will result in their choice for president not counting. These calls should commence tonight and be distributed throughout the day tomorrow.
2.) Distribute press releases to the English news media and language media for those groups covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act with the same message provided in item number one above.
3.) Instruct "rovers" and other polling place supervisors to specifically instruct pollworkers to remind voters that they must fill in circles 5 or 6 or their vote for President will not count.
4.) Immediately distribute public service announcements consistent with the information mentioned in item one, above.
5.) Permit Courage Campaign volunteers to observe the sorting and vote counting process so that we may assess the extent of the problem caused by the issues with DTS voting.
These steps are reasonable responses to the issues raised in our letter to your office earlier this morning. Once again, our client reserves all of its legal rights. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Steve J. Reyes
Kaufman Downing LLP
Comments are closed for this post.
Democratic election, I also was placed in a similar situation and had to
contest (that's pleasant way of putting it) to receive the Democratic
ballot, and I also did not mark the extra bubble giving my consent to
partake in the Democratic vote. I know you wanted to be aware of the
incident to keep tally. BUT i also wanted to mention another incident
today when my fiancee (also non-partisan voter) wasn't even allowed to
vote in the Democratic elections after requesting the ballot. Margo Salito
seat#2850022A only allowed my finacee to vote on the non partisan ballot
and being this was his first time participating in the voting process
wasn't aware of the fact he was denied that option. He asked for the
ballot was told to go to a booth, and when he completed his vote, he
informed me "I didn't have the democratic candidates on my ballot" Then he
went back to the table (after I told him he got the wrong ballot) to
inform them that he wanted the democratic ballot, Ms. Salito informed him
"It was my mistake and there was nothing they could do at this point" As a
new voter it is understandable to be confused but as a paid pollster it is
there job and duty to explain the process and make sure it is done
correctly and not so intimidating.
This whole process was ridiculous!