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FL GOP Promises No "Frivolous" Voter Challenges in Legal Truce with Dems

Specters of the 2000 election have risen in Florida, with Democrats and Republicans engaging in legal wrangling just days before Election Day.

Last week, the Florida Democratic Party joined a suit against Republicans, asking a judge to clearly define what constitutes a challenge to a voter, in anticipation of problems tomorrow.

The suit makes multiple allegations, including claims that the GOP tried to ''cage'' a Duval County voter, and that a Republican sheriff's candidate challenged approximately 300 voters. Democrats also accused Republicans of planning a ''lose your home, lose your vote'' challenge, similar to the threats allegedly made by a GOP county leader in Michigan. "Caging" refers to the practice of sending mail -- marked "Do Not Forward" -- to voters to see who has moved and prompt removal from the rolls.

But today, with just hours until polls open in the state, the two parties have reached an agreement -- putting the lawsuit on hold in exchange for a promise from state Republicans to not engage in "frivolous mass voter challenges."

From the Fort Mills Times:

That came after the GOP filed sworn statements Monday saying the state and national Republican parties "have not and will not" engage in frivolous mass voter challenges.

Circuit Judge Kevin Davey, though, will remain on standby Tuesday in case Democrats present evidence that Republicans have broken their promise.

It's still not clear what this means for Florida Democrats, since it seems to hinge on a court's definition of "frivolous."


2 Comments

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Congratulations.

You are about to elect a President who will give you a bigger government and more spending. Your new President will give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, drastically increase the number of H-1B visas, and eliminate E-verify at a time when millions of American Citizens are out of work. Your new Commander in Chief will keep American soldiers in Iraq against your will. Your new Chief Executive will borrow, spend, give away, and waste billions of dollars when the national debt is passing $12 trillion. Against your wishes your new President helped Bush give $1 trillion to the banks as his parting gift. No matter how much you object, Public Servant Number One will not listen and will continue to implement his own agenda. It doesn't matter if it's McCain or Obama.

http://ewebsmith.com/Finance/notlistening.html

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What this does is to increase the ante for the state GOP. Violating a court-recognized settlement agreement doesn't just get you told to stop doing that; it can get you sent to jail for contempt without passing go. If these folks were truly loyal foot soldiers they'd be willing to take that risk, but I expect a lot of them aren't.

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