What if it comes down to the Supreme Court?
Already we are seeing litigation in Ohio and Michigan, both states where the Secretary of State Project worked to elect candidates in 2006.
(In Ohio, we won and helped elect Secretary of State Brunner. In Michigan, we lost and Republican Terri Lynn Land is the chief election officer. )
Both states are subject to litigation. Both states are key battlegrounds for the presidential contest. So what about the State Supreme Court? Is there a firewall that would prevent a challenge to key votes (and possibly the outcome of the election) from being decided by George W. Bush's Supreme Court of the U.S.? Unfortunately, in Ohio and Michigan the answer is "no" and "no."
In Ohio, Republicans are suing in response to Brunner's directive that citizens be allowed to register and vote at the Department of Elections during the golden week between the beginning of early voting and the end of voter registration. These votes could be the margin in a closely fought race in Ohio. It's not surprising that Republicans are already working to throw them out.
In Michigan, the ACLU is suing Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynne Land over the use of foreclosure lists to challenge voters over residency. Republicans want to prevent people who have lost their homes in the mortgage crisis from voting in the presidential election. And in a close race in Michigan, voters disenchanted with Republican stewardship of the economy could make a big difference in the final outcome.
In both Ohio and Michigan, the state supreme courts are officially nonpartisan. However, candidates for election are nominated by the two parties.
In Ohio, the all seven justices of the State Supreme Court are Republican. In Michigan, 5 of the 7 justices are Republican, though one is often a swing vote resulting in 4-3, majority Republican decisions despite the 5-2 partisan advantage.
Should it come down to the courts -- and it may well -- there is no firewall at the state judiciary level to stop disputed votes in Ohio and Michigan from going all the way to the Bush Supreme Court.
The election system should maximize, not minimize engagement by eligible citizens. Partisans should not be able to manipulate the election system to guarantee an outcome. Which is why we need to get political operatives out of the Secretary of State office. And off our State Supreme Courts. We're for nonpartisan administration of our elections and our justice system. But until that happens, we're working to get the worst abusers of the process -- Republicans -- out of office and to replace them with pro-participation reformers.
Anyone want to create a State Supreme Court Project? We're happy to share what we know about the logistics of running a non-federal 527 to help leverage national interest to win key downballot races. Just drop us a line at secstateproject at gmail dot com.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.secstateproject.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/43