Where Have All The Lawyers Gone?

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http://www.alternet.org/election04/20377/

 

Where Have All The Lawyers Gone?

 

By Rose Aguilar, AlterNet. Posted November 2, 2004.

 

To the swing states, apparently. Yes, 25,000 lawyers have been

dispatched to the swing states for election day. And that may not be a

bad thing.

 

Polling places in key precincts around the country are being flooded

by more lawyers than voters. Democrats have 10,000 lawyers on the

ground, while Republicans have 8,500. A coalition of outside groups,

including the People for the American Way, the ACLU and the NAACP have

called upon 6,000 lawyers to monitor the polls in 17 states. The

majority of those lawyers say they're donating their time to ensure a

clean and fair election.

 

Too many lawyers, one might say. But some experts think it is a good

thing.

 

The presence of so many lawyers is making a difference, says Jamie

Raskin, professor of constitutional law at American University and

author of " Overruling Democracy. " " A lot of tricks that we weren't

even aware of last time we know about, " he says. Raskin points to the

felon and ex-felon voter purge list in Florida in the 2000 elections

which ended up removing more than 50,000 people from the rolls — even

though they were never charged with a criminal conviction. " This time

there are voting rights groups which have been on top of that process.

They (Florida) did indeed attempt to do the same thing, but we've been

able to block them in different ways, " says Raskin. " The civil society

has stood up. That doesn't mean we've won yet, but at least we're

galvanized for action. "

 

Still, the fact that almost 25,000 lawyers are monitoring the polls is

an embarrassing moment for the country, says Raskin. " We're trying to

scramble to defend the right to vote, " he says. " Unlike Mexico or

Canada, we don't have one national constitutional right to vote. We

don't have one national ballot. We don't have an independent

nonpartisan electoral commission. Instead, we have partisan election

officials like Katherine Harris in 2000. "

 

Jerry Goldfeder, professor of election law at Fordham law school, is

volunteering his time in Philadelphia. He predicts the influx of

attorneys will have a positive impact and dissuade those who might

otherwise attempt to suppress the vote from doing so. " We're training

hundreds of lawyers to be poll monitors so that if voters have any

problems we can intervene on their behalf, " he says. " Our main goal is

to make sure that everybody who's eligible to vote can vote. "

 

Based on the tactics that have already been exposed, today is sure to

be chaotic. On Saturday, the Wisconsin Republican Party demanded that

city officials require identification from 37,000 " questionable "

voters. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice recently filed a

brief supporting a statute in Ohio that allows individuals to

challenge the legitimacy of a voter at the polling place. A lawsuit

filed late last week in Cincinnati, Ohio contends the procedure

disenfranchises voters. A federal court judge agreed saying the

Republican plans to challenge voters is unconstitutional. A similar

suit is pending in Akron, Ohio.

 

Polling place observers, otherwise known as challengers, can question

a voter's eligibility and demand to see identification. A new

provision incorporated into all state laws requires all first time

voters to provide some form of identification. Voters who don't have

proper identification can still vote using a provisional ballot.

 

Voters can also use provisional ballots if their names are not on

voter registration lists. Provisional ballots require voters to place

ballots in an envelope and then place that envelope in another

envelope with a signed affidavit. Election officials will then

investigate all provisional ballots to determine whether they'll be

counted.

 

And provisional ballots are as likely as anything else to delay final

tallies. Ted Lieverman, an AFL-CIO lawyer who specializes in class

action suits, predicts each provisional ballot will be inspected like

every punch card was inspected four years ago in Florida. Lieverman is

also in Philadelphia monitoring the polls. He anticipates it will take

up to a week or more to declare a winner. " The Republican party has

already announced plans to use massive challenges against newly

registered voters, " he says. " That means we'll have thousands of

provisional ballots and each one is going to be a fight. It could be

ugly. "

 

Members of the Republican party say they have no plans to rely on

lawyers to win the election — but they'll be ready to fight in court

in any case. " We're working and focused on winning this election at

the ballot box, not in the courtroom, " says Joseph Agostini, spokesman

for Florida's Republican Party. " But have no doubt, we are ready for

anything that may arise. "

 

Democrats in Florida say they too will be ready for anything. Some

3,000 attorneys are expected to monitor activity in the Sunshine

State. " Lawyers plan to sit at polls and watch what's going on — if a

voter is challenged or turned away, lawyers will step up and alert the

poll worker that the law is being broken, " says Christine Andersen,

spokesperson with the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Florida. " We've taken

a pledge to stay away from any election day challenges. We've urged

Republicans to take the same pledge, but they've refused. "

 

Democrats and Republicans say in a best case scenario, Sen. John Kerry

or President Bush wins by a comfortable margin and voting runs

smoothly. But that's highly unlikely.

 

" On the one hand, it would be great if we didn't need lawyers and

voting was a shared consensus, " says Lieverman. " On the other hand,

I'm glad there are enough both democratic and nonpartisan public

interest lawyers who will go out and try to protect people. I just

hope I'm not needed. "

 

Rose Aguilar co-produces Your Call on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco

and runs News We Can Use, a Web site about women's issues and

politics. She can be reached at rosea