Justice Dept. Intervenes in Vote Dispute - says Don't Count Provisional Votes

• With Integrity of Voting System at all time low - Justice Dept. offers no assistance

The Justice Department yesterday jumped into an intensely partisan legal battle over the election rules that will govern the upcoming presidential election, arguing in federal court that the Democratic Party has no right to challenge rules in Michigan or elsewhere that govern the counting of "provisional ballots." A new federal law requires that voters across the country who show up at the polls but whose names do not appear on the rolls be given a provisional ballot, which will count if it can be determined after Election Day that the voter was eligible. Democrats have challenged rules in a number of states, including Michigan, that prohibit such ballots from being counted if they are cast in the wrong precinct. They contend that provisional ballots are more likely to be cast by low-income or minority voters, and that the Help America Vote Act, which Congress passed in 2002, does not allow for such restrictions on otherwise eligible voters. Federal judges in several swing states have issued conflicting rulings, which led the Justice Department to file a brief in the still-pending Michigan case, a spokesman said. "Congress made an explicit decision not to disturb states' long-standing authority to determine how ballots are to be counted, and the United States believes that courts must respect that congressional decision," spokesman Mark Corallos [more ]

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