ACLU to Appeal Punch Card Ruling - Broken Voting Machines Discriminate Against Blacks
The American Civil Liberties Union says it is appealing a ruling by a federal judge in Akron that Ohio's punch-card voting system does not discriminate against blacks. The ACLU says it is appealing to the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The ACLU contends punch-card ballots should be declared unconstitutional because they're error prone and don't alert voters to mistakes. It says the punch cards violate the voting rights of blacks, who predominantly live in counties that use punch cards. US District Court Judge David Dowd ruled in December that all voters in a county, regardless of race, use the same voting system to cast a ballot, and no one is denied the opportunity to cast a valid vote because of their race. A spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell implied the issue is moot because plans call for Ohio's punch-card machines to be phased out by November. [more]