(OH Secretary of State) Husted fires Mont. Co. (Democratic) election board members
Source: WHIO TV
Husted fires Mont. Co. election board members
COLUMBUS — The two Democratic members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections have been fired, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said in a letter released Tuesday afternoon.
“After reviewing the report of the hearing officer following the Aug. 20 … hearing, I can draw no other conclusion: You knowingly and willfully violated Ohio election law,” Husted said in his letter to Thomas Ritchie Sr. of Dayton and Dennis Lieberman of Clayton.
Husted said in his letter that board members are free to express their discontent with any directive or advisory issued, “but they cannot disobey them. Your dismissal is not about differing views; it is about you violating the law…. You were given subsequent chances to comply and refused to take corrective action.”
A state hearing officer on Monday recommended that Ritchie and Lieberman be fired from an elections board after they pushed to set early voting hours on the weekends in their county, violating an order from Ohio’s elections chief.
Read more: http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/local/husted-fires-democratic-mont-co-board-members/nRMBp/
= new reply since forum marked as read
are they afraid of looking too intrusive in local politics or what
The Attorney General enforces the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the problem is the Act ONLY applies to those states (and parts of other states) that had legal restrictions as to African American Voting in the 1950s and early 1960s.
The Act established extensive federal oversight of elections administration, providing that states with a history of discriminatory voting practices (so-called "covered jurisdictions"
could not implement any change affecting voting without first obtaining the approval of the Department of Justice, a process known as preclearance. These enforcement provisions applied to states and political subdivisions (mostly in the South) that had used a "device" to limit voting and in which less than 50 percent of the population was registered to vote in 1964. .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act
List of States, Counties and Townships subject to the Voting Rights Act:
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/covered.php
On top of that the US Supreme Court has ruled, that, except for the Voting Rights Act, it is up to the states to determine how elections are held in that state.
More on the US Supreme Court Decision:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_v._Marion_County_Election_Board
The Actual Opinion is here:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-21.pdf
That Republicans would be sleazy and make any and all efforts to steal elections, i get that and have since 2000 in Florida and also had it confirmed and witnessed personally in 2004 in Ohio when I was an election rights monitor. The GOP is led by immoral individuals and groups that care nothing about civil rights, voting rights, democracy and will do whatever it takes to disenfranchise and yes, STEAL an election.
But my anger and disgust at Democrats and the DNC is actually as great if not greater. They know and saw what I have seen, what we all have. They knew in 2004 w/ Kerry the efforts made to "win" by all means necessary Ohio in order for Bush to have a 2nd term. The Dems knew this...they were talking about it for months in advance. They knew from Florida in 2000 the shenanigans and I was one of the people who not only gave personally but fundraised for John Kerry's Legal Fund. We then watched him not put up a fight. We have heard and known for years now what the various states were doing related to the GOP efforts for "Voter ID laws"... Where has the DNC been spending money to stop this? Where has the Justice Department been and Eric Holder in stopping this because it violates the voting act? Where? Where have they been with their spending, investigations, their efforts?
Im sorry, but Im angry and disgusted. The Republicans and Romney may very well succeed in disenfranchising eligible voters all over this country (mostly elderly, minority and the young students who might be voting the first time). They have known this was Obama's edge. And in my opinion, the Dems and DNC in particular and the Justice Dept have failed and allowed it to happen. They are accomplices in this crime. Im angry and disgusted and we all should be.
We dont have a democracy. Its all a lie. 
that have this suppression plan going. It's a criminal conspiracy that deserves to be treated that way. 
