Sorry if this has been mentioned. I will delete if it has. This is Blackwell's most disgusting act yet. See below for the email from the Ohio Dem Party
Longline" Blackwell Up to Antics Again
Seeks to make Voter Registration Less Accessible
For Immediate Release June 5, 2006
Contact: Brian Rothenberg, Communications Director 614-221-6563
COLUMBUS - As if his infamous voter suppression antics of 2004 weren't enough, "Longline" Ken Blackwell proposed rules Monday that significantly restrict proactive efforts to register Ohio voters.
At an 11 a.m. hearing in a Ground floor hearing room of the Rhodes State Office Tower, Blackwell's representatives heard from lawyers, including the Ohio Democratic Party, who are trying to prevent yet another gimmicky rule change making it harder for Ohioans to register and vote.
The proposed rules reference required procedures making voter registration outreach more difficult by requiring people assisting a voter registrant to have to "directly" return the form to the Board of Elections or Secretary of State's office. This severely hampers organized voter registration drives, and group registration drives including union or office registration efforts.
"Longline Blackwell strikes again," said Brian Rothenberg, Communications Director of the Ohio Democratic Party. "This overly restrictive requirement is reminiscent of Secretary Blackwell's 2004 paper-weight directive that he backed off of after national scrutiny. Ken Blackwell seems to stop at nothing to make it harder for Ohioans to vote."
If enacted the order would require any circulator of voter registration who is paid by an entity, whether it is a private business, union, 527 organizations or non-profit organization, to personally deliver the signed registration form they assist with as opposed to allowing the collection of the organizations forms to be turned in en-masse.
"One would hope Longline Blackwell would want to erase the tarnished image of 2004 with some election integrity," said Rothenberg. "But it appears that once again, he has chosen a divisive path of voter suppression and legal sleight of hand to disenfranchise voting opportunity in Ohio."