Defending Cuyahoga

Cuyahoga County [Greater Cleveland Ohio] is a liberal bastion with a 4:1 Democrat advantage in voter registrations. Coupled with a Democrat Secretary of State as the chief electoral officer who has produced the loosest registration and voter ID requirements and interpretations imaginable [2008], and you have a recipe for potential voter fraud. Election Day Operations [EDO], have been effective in the past. [In Bush v Gore in 2000 in Florida & Bush v Kerry in 20004 in Ohio] EDO are designed as a last ditch effort to prevent voting irregularities, widespread voter fraud, and vote tallying irregularities. For reasons set forth below, EDO efforts have been overtaken by events and will not be of much use in the future. Efforts will be better spent on longer-term efforts to ensure the integrity and finality of the electoral system.

3000 Republican Trained Precinct Election Officials Are Needed by September

There are about 1450 precincts in Cuyahoga County. There are about 500 Polling Locations which suggests an average of 3 precincts per polling location. There are 4 Precinct Election Officials [poll workers] in each precinct. The presiding judge is of the party that won the precinct in the last Governors race. No more than two Poll Workers [Judges] can be of the same party. However, when one party [Republican] fails to put forward any candidates for judges, the void will be filled. In Ohio, a persons party is not declared, it is established solely by how the person voted in the most recent primary election.. A person who does not vote in a primary is unaffiliated and will not be considered to be of either party regardless of their associations. Therefore a precinct could have two Democrats that voted in the Democrat primary, 1 Democrat who voted in the Republican party just to establish his bona fides, 1 Democrat who did not vote in the primary. This would allow the Polling Judges to apply whatever policies they chose when it came to checking ID and addresses and would allow fraudulently registered voters to actually vote without being challenged. There is also the potential for outright stuffing of the ballot box after the polls close. Because of this possibility, it is IMPERATIVE, that local Republican parties get involved with the process of getting poll worker volunteers and make sure that the Precinct Election Officials are not assigned by default to all Democrat electors. Typically, all Poll Workers are assigned by September 15th so this work needs to start early.

EDO Training of Poll Observers: Closing the Barn . . .

So if you arrive on the scene in October, and find that the Precinct Election Officials [Judges] have already been assigned, you have a serious uphill battle that can only be addressed with Election Day Operations including Poll Observers and Roving legal teams. Neither has any actual authority but by their mere presence and provision of sunlight into the process may deter the more egregious attempts at corrupting the electoral process. Memoranda issued by the Democrat Secretary of State have severely limited the ability of observers to prevent voter fraud even if they detect it. Observers are not allowed to challenge a voters credentials nor to question a polling judge. Each political party [State Republican, County Republican] and each Candidate [McCain] can appoint Poll Observers to the Board of Elections who will then issue credentials to the Observers which allows them to observe but not interfere with the electoral process. Poll Observers names must be filed with the Board of Elections by Oct. 24, but amendments may be made until 4 pm the day before the election. By providing appropriate Precinct Election Officials, the Republican Party can obviate the need for Election Day Operations [EDO] and the last minute training of Poll Watchers and roving legal teams, which unfortunately proved to be rather ineffective.