This means that Barbour appointee Roger Wicker will remain Senator until November.
In a 7-2 decision, the court said the state statute was unclear and it was reasonable for the election to be in November instead of March as stated by Attorney General Jim Hood.
The Republican activist court did the job those campaign contributions paid them to. This is what happens when the Republican party and the US Chamber of Commerce buy our Supreme Court elections.
How is it "reasonable" to make voters wait till November to have any say on their new Senator?
Give me a break.
Will Bardwell's analysis of the decision that Barbour appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court
It's not necessarily a bad thing for Democrats.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama is the Democratic Nominee and McCain is the Republican nominee I think we'll see a large enthusiasm and turnout gap. Here's hoping!
Just so that we're abundantly clear, I have not cast any aspersions that the state high court is "Republican," "activist," or anything else other than the final arbiter of this question.
ReplyDeleteSince the national primaries and caucuses have begun, I've thought this out a bit more.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats are the ones energized to come out and vote, producing record turnouts in primaries and in almost all cases, exceeding Republicans even in red states.
If say, Obama is the nominee, and the same thing happens in November, Barbour's plan could backfire. Which would be pretty sweet.
I do not intend to place any opinions on Will Bardwell that are not his own.
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion and mine only that the court ruled in this entirely illogical direction due to partisanship.
It is going to work out better in the long run. Obama is going to get the nomination. As we have already seen by the incredible turnout in SC, AL, and GA, this is going to play in to the Democrats hands. I don't evev think a gay rights amendment could bail them out of this one.
ReplyDeleteMoney talks and by November Wicker should have millions to silence Musgrove once and for all.
ReplyDeleteNo matter if Obama or Hillary gets the job they won't win in Mississippi. Besides, Wicker has Thad as his running mate.
The sooner the better for the voter ID to be approved. If we go into Nov without it, it could be a little trouble for Republicans. You know, those numbers of not so honest Democrats.
Chuck said "Money talks and by November Wicker should have millions to silence Musgrove once and for all.
ReplyDeleteNo matter if Obama or Hillary gets the job they won't win in Mississippi. Besides, Wicker has Thad as his running mate.
The sooner the better for the voter ID to be approved. If we go into Nov without it, it could be a little trouble for Republicans. You know, those numbers of not so honest Democrats."
Please give me one documented example of voter fraud where a democrat tried to vote using another's identity. I will be waiting.
Yeah...all those undocumented voters. You may want to follow what's happening in the state of Indiana, Chuck. Voter ID proponents there have produced evidence of as many cases of voter fraud as there have been African-Americans elected governor in the state of Mississippi--none.
ReplyDeleteHowever, studies have shown that voter ID laws are more likely to prevent REGISTERED voters from voting rather than someone doing it fraudulently.
We all understand what happens to the body when people get old. We have those grandparents that might not know day from night because of their mental state. These people are prime targets of voter fraud and the people who have passed away still being on the books is another angle for fraud.
ReplyDeleteThere was such a case in Simpson Co. this past November. A black man about 4ft going in and out of old homes with a handful of absentee ballots. That was like his 2nd or 3rd time he was caught. Now, that’s one case, but think of how many people in the state can get away with that. Is that right? How easy is it to walk in and vote for someone? Too easy. In order to go and vote you have to have a driver’s license to get there. In order to by things at stores with a credit card you might have to show ID. I really don’t understand what big deal is. Explain the study Olemiss. With the partys at each others throats wouldn’t we all want a more secure way of people casting their votes? What if you went to vote and they said, sorry you have already voted. How would you feel? Disenfranchised? I would and you would too. What if you walked into a old home and realized some stranger is trying to vote your sweet grandmother who doesn’t know shes alive? Is that right? What other options do we as a democracy have to counter this other than ID? No doubt about it, voting is a right but having an ID is not taking that right away it just secures it.
If it were that easy TheCount I would, but you cannot honestly say that it never happens. No matter if it’s just a hand full of votes or a million it’s wrong. Is it not?
What is the problem with voter ID in Mississippi? This is not Indiana, it’s Mississippi. Someone explain. Indian folks say it disenfranchises black voters. How so?
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteYou're asked to point to an example and you choose a black midget who has been caught, according to you, 2 or 3 times.
Please link to some sort of news article or something substantiate the serial black midget vote fraud.
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteLink please?
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteWait a minute...so how is voter ID going to keep dead people from voting? It's not. They're dead. If you're concerned about people casting votes in the name of the deceased, you need to be posing this question to your candidates for county coroner to find out what they are doing to ensure that the deceased are being removed from the public/civic system.
You can not disenfranchise based on age and the maladies related to it. In the city elections up here a candidate tried to challenge a nursing home resident's ability to vote because her rheumatoid arthritis was so bad in both hands, she was not able to sign her name. That challenge was dismissed.
Here's a study: http://depts.washington.edu/uwiser/documents/Indiana_voter.pdf
Think about this. Not everyone has driver's licenses. That's why they're called licenses. If you're legally blind, you won't get one. And how likely is it that a person is going to possess a passport? A company ID card? Military ID? None of those others encompass the general population, and especially not the segment of the population that opponents to these laws are concerned about: The elderly and poor.
It's for political reasons. Those voters are typically Democratic voters.
There is no article that I can find. I wish there was, but call Simpson Co. and give his discription. You would be surprised who knows of the guy. Let me make a correction, the guy is white. He is the old Alderman or something in Magee.
ReplyDeleteOlemiss, removing people from the list is not the point. Yes, it would help, but that not the fact of the matter. The fact is people are not purged from the system and some talk advantage of it. Has anyone ever worked a poll? I have, many times. Its obvious when you see a group of folks walk in looking at a piece of paper and saying my name is blank and voting democrat. It goes both ways though. Unfortunatly its come down to making people be honest about their votes. No one can argue there is a problem with voter fraud, so what do we do about it.
Do we allow this to keep going on, or do we take action? All I can say is that the Republicans are at least doing someting about it. Maybe we start making it a point to send all registered voters a photo ID some how. Would that work? Is having to produce an ID to vote the problem or haveing to get an ID the problem?
Chuck,
ReplyDeleteRespectfully i disagree with your logic. You would like to see a law passed to safeguard against voter fraud, even though there is not ONE documented case, knowing that the law would consequently disenfranchise thousands of voters? Those at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum will be those most likely not to have a valid ID. Here in MS, some of those probably vote GOP, but if past election cycles are any indicator those affected will be overwhelmingly Democrat.
Unfortunately this a GOP voter suppresion tactic, cousin to the voter caging stategies employed in Florida and Ohio in 2004. What makes these tactics so dangerous is that they are wrapped in a veil of fairness, concern trolling at its finest.
Get back to me when we have documented proof of voter fraud that would justify the dsienfranchisemnet of thousands of voters. I need to hear something other than undocumented tales of midgets commiting widespread voter fraud to get on board the Voter ID cause.
Count,
ReplyDeleteGo work a poll in the black areas of Jackson and get back to me about what you experience. So, voter fraud is just something that is made up? Tell the Clarksdale press this.
« A Dead Guy Voted in August….. An Encore Post.ROM Fraud-Watch 2007 »More PROOF of Voter Fraud in Coahoma County Mississippi
Clarksdale Press Register
Circuit Judge Frank Vollor of Vicksburg has thrown out Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson Jr.’s victory in the Aug. 7th Democratic Primary and called for for the governor to order a runoff between Thompson and Friars Point Police Chief Charles Jones.
Vollor, who presided over a hearing Oct. 26 in Coahoma County Circuit Court, ruled Friday that “all of the absentee ballots (from the Aug. 7 primary) should be disqualified” because of the illegal ballots included in the absentee vote.”
“It is impossible to segregate the illegal votes from the legal votes,” Vollor said, referring to Harpole v. Kemper County Democratic Executive Committee, Mississippi 2005.
Jones filed a complaint with the office of Coahoma County Circuit Court following the Aug. 7 election in which Thompson received 50.16 votes to Jones’ 32.08 percent of the votes.
Jones contended that more than 100 absentee ballots had not been properly witnessed and signed.
During the Oct. 26 hearing, Vollor called for the ballots. Once Vollor looked at each ballot individually he declared 124 ballots had not been signed to validate the votes.
Vollor studied the matter at length during the past week. His other option, a much simpler decision, would have been to affirm the election results.
Thompson and his attorney, Ellis Pittman, argued that since fraud had not been alleged or proven, the number of illegal votes counted although more than the 11-vote margin by which Thompson was declared the winner in August.
Thompson argued that the illegal votes should “approach a percentage of the total vote in the proximity of 30 percent.”
Vollor did not buy the contention from Thompson and Pittman.
Vollor said since nearly one-fourth of the absentee ballots were illegal, “this is a total departure from the fundamental provisions of the election code and there is no way to determine for whom these illegal votes were cast.”
The Coahoma County Democratic Executive Committee had certified the results from August as being proper, declaring Thompson the winner by a scant 11 votes (50.16 percent). There were five candidate opposing Thompson’s re-election to a sixth four-year term.
Vollor said Thompson’s argument would have had merit if he had also won a majority at the polls.
The question then would have been whether the percentage of the absentee votes disqualified to the total vote cast still required a special question.
Richard “Flip” Phillips, the main attorney representing Jones, said after Vollor’s ruling:
“I am convinced Charles Jones represents the future of the Mississippi Delta,” Phillips said. “He is an honest, hard-working young man who believes a better way of life is ahead for Coahoma County residents.
“He wants to aggressively address the gang and crime problems that stand in the way of that better life,” Phillips said. “A growing majority of Coahoma County citizens are sharing his view.”
Assisting Phillips during the protracted legal work getting the case to fruition was Parker Still.
Both are members of a Batesville law firm.
Parker is the city attorney for Batesville.
Phillips said working the case brought inspiration to Parker and him as they look to the vision of change in Northwest Mississippi.
“This is the new face of the Mississippi Delta,” he said.
©Clarksdale Press Register 2007
What does fraud in absentee ballots have to do with showing an ID to vote in PERSON? Sounds like a completely separate issue to me.
ReplyDelete