- Archives

Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer Thursday threw out on a technicality a challenge filed by voting rights activists claiming that the November 2 vote in that state was invalid because of voting machine errors, double-counting of some ballots and a shortage of voting machines in predominantly minority precincts. Moyer ruled that the complaint improperly challenged two separate results - one for President and another for his own re-election race against retired Cleveland Municipal Court judge C. Ellen Connally - where state law authorized the challenge of only one election result per case. Moyer's ruling does not prevent plaintiffs from filing a new lawsuit that contests only one election. The law requires the chief justice to hear and determine any legal challenges to offices or issues decided by a statewide vote.It is expected that the plaintiffs will make separate re-filings Friday. The lawsuit, filed by a group of 40 grass-roots plaintiffs, cited numerous instances of voting machine errors, improper registrations and counting mistakes that favored the re-election of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The suit also said those alleged irregularities favored Judge Moyer. The challenge was backed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cliff Arnebeck, a Columbus attorney for the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy, who accused Bush's campaign of "high-tech vote stealing." [more] and [more]

Read the full text of Chief Justice Moyer's ruling here[PDF].