Indiana Judge: GOP Poll Watchers Violated Court Order On Foreclosure Lists

An Indiana judge ruled on Tuesday that Republican poll watchers violated a court order regarding the correct process for challenging voters on election day, according to the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund.

In late October, Democrats and Republicans in Marion County were ordered not to use lists of voters who had been foreclosed on -- or who had been evicted from their homes -- as the sole basis of any election day challenge at the polls.

For Indianapolis voters in particular, the prospect of having their residency status challenged on the basis of home foreclosure was understandable: last year, nearly 26,000 homes were foreclosed on in the city.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NAACP's legal arm went to court alleging that GOP poll watchers did not have copies of the previous court order, as they said the order itself required. NAACP officials had no knowledge of voters having their eligibility challenged based on foreclosure and eviction lists. But they alleged that at the very least, GOP polling officials were not adhering to the initial court order.

In response, Marion County GOP lawyers responded that all Republican poll workers had been previously trained on the court's standing order.

The judge, John Hanley, agreed with the NAACP, ruling that the Republican workers had failed to follow the previous order to the letter. (Hanley did not address whether or not any GOP poll watchers had improperly challenged any voters today.)

"Our position was that they needed to have the the court order and the credential together," said Jenigh Garrett, assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "The court's remedy is that they would have to remove any [poll-watcher] without the order from the polling place. They can't be in the polling place without it."

The issue comes down, essentially, to trust. A Marion County Republican spokesperson said that all poll workers were trained not to use foreclosure or eviction status as the sole basis for any residency challenge. "We did poll training with every single one of our poll workers," said the local Republican official. "We handed them the agreement, letting them know that these foreclosures are not a valid basis to challenge residency."

Democrats, as well as the judge, now want every Republican challenger to carry the court order at all times when present at polling places.

Garrett said the judge was reassured, to some degree, by claims from both Republican and Democratic poll watchers who said challenges had been infrequent so far on Tuesday.

Comments

[annnw]

This is huge. I grew up in Indiana, where it used to be that the judges were all Republicans and woudln't even hear the challenge by the NAACP, or at least, would put it off until after the election.

[1FLvoter]

Congrats to all of you in Indiana! With deference to our new (hopefully) First Lady: For the first time in my 55 years, I'm am truly proud of my Country...the voters may actually be heard this time!

[BluePrideSMW]

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

The Obamas are Moving On UP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3uGsMxsoQ

[Tom Payned]

Court orders can't change the election day or order the poll workers to contact the voters that have been turned and bring them back to the polls.

And we are supposedly fighting in Iraq to build a democracy there.

Hypocrisy, they true name is GOP.

We need to change and nationalize federal election laws. Early voting in every state.

[cactusgal]

AMEN!!!! And we have to work just as hard to get that done as we have to get Obama elected.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

As i read this, Rachel Maddow was saying these exact same words out loud on MSNBC.

How can we be exporting Democracy to the rest of the world, if we aren't protecting it above all else here at home.

[BUTCHER111]

Good news for voters that the GOP efforts to suppress votes failed at least here. BUT keep up the fight, they’ll regroup and attempt to suppress more votes if they can.

[spartanmom]

AND you just know they are working on a strategy for mid-term elections. We cannot rest on our laurels, folks.

Pestering senators and reps is going to have to become a new national pass-time

[Kindheart]

They are determined to steal this election...at all costs, even if ordered by a judge to not engage in this type of behavior. The GOP are a bunch of lowlifes.

[oldguru]

Trust a Republican operative? Why???

[grf67]

OK, put them in jail and they are less likely to do it again.

[Deni]

I agree. Anyone trying to deny any voter their constitutional right to vote should be charged with a felony. That goes for those cutesy phone calls that Dems vote on Wednesday and Pukes on Tuesday, or that "official" document that was out in Virginia. It is a serious crime and should be treated like a serious crime! We're exporting "Democracy" so we should hold ourselves to the highest standards. And, you'll notice, it's always the GOP that's involved in this crap. It has to stop and people going to jail should fix it pretty quickly.

[krabby]

Couldn't agree more! As soon as they start prosecuting these people and at least laying heavy fines on them, the sooner that this cr@p will stop. I have a feeling that a lot of the GOP supporters at the ground level that are doing this stuff couldn't afford a multi-thousand dollar fine and a misdemeanor on their record for voter fraud.

[Myshkin57]

But they're only committing acts that are treasonous. We need to spend our efforts cracking down on minor drug crimes.