Afternoon, October 29, 2004: Ohio Attorney General Refuses to Bar Voter Challenges on Election Day

Following Judge Susan Dlott’s ruling (see Afternoon, October 29, 2004), Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell instructs Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to recommend to federal judges that all challengers be barred from polling locations. [Columbus Dispatch, 10/31/2004; Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/1/2004] He reasons that poll workers hired and paid by the local election boards and supplied by the parties should be able to protect against voter fraud. He also says the challengers could generate confusion. [New York Times, 10/29/2004; Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 10/31/2004] But Petro refuses, saying that to do so would be a violation of Ohio law. “Neither the secretary of state nor I can negotiate away the legal rights of Ohio’s citizens,” Petro says in a statement. “Thus, I cannot submit to the federal courts the secretary’s unlawful proposal to ban all challengers for all parties, candidates or issues on Election Day.” Both officials are Republicans. [Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 10/31/2004; Columbus Dispatch, 10/31/2004; Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/1/2004]