Justice Dept. letter backs poll watchers

Civil rights lawyers for the Bush administration's Justice Department have notified a federal judge that they see no conflict with Republican plans to post thousands of partisan challengers in Ohio polling places on Election Day. The Justice Department's letter to U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott appears designed to undercut Democrats and their allies in civil rights groups. Dlott is presiding over a closely watched pre-election lawsuit that claims GOP plans to station challengers in the polls violate the U.S. Constitution and the 1965 Voting Rights Act because it targets black neighborhoods in Hamilton County. Republicans plan to put about 3,600 challengers in the polls across the state; Democrats plan slightly more than 2,000. Hearings on the lawsuit whose outcome could affect the presidential race are scheduled to resume tonight at the U.S. Courthouse in Cincinnati. A decision is expected before polls open Tuesday. Dlott is considering whether to bar challengers, also known as poll watchers, on grounds they are little more than a partisan army for intimidating newly registered voters in black neighborhoods across the state. [more]