Fraud as Legal and Laudable

Via Althouse, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott of Cincinnati has "found that plaintiffs who brought a lawsuit likely would be able to prove that Ohio's law allowing polling place challengers was unconstitutional."

According to the AP: "Two federal judges on Monday barred political party representatives from challenging voters at polling places throughout Ohio, saying poll workers, not outsiders, should determine voter eligibility. State Republicans quickly appealed."

And: "In a similar case, U.S. District Judge John Adams of Akron said poll workers are the ones to determine if voters are eligible.

"'In light of these extraordinary circumstances, and the contentious nature of the imminent election, the court cannot and must not turn a blind eye to the substantial likelihood that significant harm will result not only to voters, but also to the voting process itself, if appointed challengers are permitted at the polls,' Adams said.

"Adams wrote that people appointed as challengers cannot be at the polls for the sole purpose of challenging voters' qualifications. Republicans said the ruling would allow them to still be in the polling places 'to observe, to be vigilant, to take notes,' said Mark Weaver, a lawyer for the state Republican Party.

"But Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office sent a memo to county election boards Monday telling them to bar all challengers from polling places, based on the two rulings. Adams' office refused to clarify the ruling.

"Dlott said the presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process questioning voters about their eligibility would impede voting.

"Three people backed by the state Republican Party appealed Dlott's ruling to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, asking the judges to order Blackwell to instruct the county elections boards to permit challengers in the polling places."

Over at Power Line, Hindrocket has posted a photo of Dlott's house, and I suggest you take a look. Of course it's not quite Biltmore. Almost, but not quite.

This is all of a piece with ongoing Democratic efforts to allow anyone to vote any place any number of times. Challenging such fraud brings charges of racism and Jim Crowe. This kind of judicial demagoguery is worthy of a banana republic, not America.