Federal judge sides with news media in dispute over poll access
Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 03:41PM
TheSpook
Exit polling can be conducted within 100 feet of a polling place
on Election Day, a federal judge ruled last night. U.S. District Judge
Michael H. Watson's ruling last night overturned an October directive
by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to prohibit exit polling
within 100 feet of precincts. Five television networks -- ABC, CNN, CBS,
Fox News and NBC -- and the Associated Press had filed a lawsuit
yesterday in U.S. District Court seeking a temporary order to block
Blackwell's directive that limited the exit-poll surveys, even though
there had been no prior problems. "Polling activities such as these
have been conducted in this manner for over two decades," Watson said
in his nine-page ruling. "There is no evidence before the court that
these activities have ever impinged on a citizen's right to vote."
Secretary of state's spokeswoman Betty Hull said today that Blackwell
would abide by the ruling. The news organizations have formed a
consortium to collect exit-polling data in Ohio and other states. The
organizations said Blackwell's prohibition would have hindered their
ability to gather information about the political process and would
violate constitutional guarantees of free speech. [more]
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