Posted on 11/07/2002 7:29:30 PM PST by HAL9000
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Pulaski County residents were not entitled to an extra 90 minutes of voting this week. The move clears the way for election officials to toss out ballots cast after the official close of the polls.The Pulaski County attorney's office says officials are currently reading the ruling.
A judge in the Arkansas' most populous county extended poll-closing time from seven-30 p.m. to nine p.m. on Tuesday, citing long lines at some precincts and the absence of ballots at others. The justices said today Circuit Judge Collins Kilgore was wrong to do so.
Republicans accused state Democrats of trying to steal the election by extending voting hours in the predominantly Democratic county -- a key U.S. Senate race was on the ballot -- and the state Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday that the extra hours were illegal.
It was unknown how many votes were cast in the extra 90 minutes. Some of the late ballots were challenged Tuesday night, allowing the local Election Commission to identify some of them.
The commission has not counted the disputed votes and wanted direction from the Supreme Court on what to do with them. The justices in the four-three ruling did not give specific directions in their order, instead reiterating that Arkansas' voting hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. -- except that people in line at 7:30 p.m. can stay in line.
The court said today quote "The legislative branch of our state government has spoken on this issue and there is no provision in our election code authorizing an extension on voting times by the judiciary. Persons who have presented themselves for voting and who are in line at the polling place to do so when the polls close are permitted to vote.
It also wrote in an unsigned order quote "We hold that Judge Kilgore clearly abused his discretion and exceeded his authority in extending the voting hours to nine p.m. in contravention of state law."
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Of course he did, he's a Democrat. This comes natural to them.
Not in any major contests, e.g. Hutchinson v. Pryor, or Huckabee v. Fisher.
The Democratic Party tried to round up every wino and bum down by the river and get them to the polls, but the statewide margins of victory were too large for the extra 90 minutes in Pulaski County to make a difference.
The GOP election monitors were instructed to challenge every ballot cast by persons who entered the voting place after 7:30 pm, so those ballots should be marked. I've been trying to contact a poll watcher to get more info, but no luck so far.
That's why the whole "long lines" excuse doesn't make sense. You still get to vote if you got there on time, even if you stand in line for three more hours after the doors close.
| It also wrote in an unsigned order quote "We hold that Judge Kilgore clearly abused his discretion and exceeded his authority in extending the voting hours to nine p.m. in contravention of state law."
My hunch is that the Supreme Court absolutely wants to put an end to these judicial shenanigans where judges decide for themselves what election law should be, instead of what it says... except that SCOTUS didn't want to do it again in the heat of an election. We shall see. |
If I am not mistaken, I believe the USSC said they would not consider the case.
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These guys are paying attention. They know that the petition for a writ of certiorari in the New Jersey "Torricelli Switcheroo" case is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. That court did not grant emergency relief, but neither did it turn down the case.