Quest For The Perfect Caging List

As sure as the leaves will fall off the trees this fall the Ohio GOP will strive to find ways to prevent a free and unfettered election process. The plan usually depends on carving out a large group of potential voters and finding a way to divert them into provisional ballot purgatory. As we have seen this year Bob Bennet et al have focused their energy on creating a court enforced caging list. Why spend untold dollars mailing out certified letters in order to identify potential victims of their age old suppression racket? The events of 2008 have given these creeps the perfect backdrop for asking the courts to do the work for them.

The tactics may differ but the strategy is always the same, divert as many potential voters to the confused path of provisional balloting and hope the election is close. Bill Boyarsky sums it up:

Republicans, as they did in 2004, can make massive challenges of voters in Democratic areas, creating confusion and slowing the vote. Challenged voters cast provisional ballots, which are counted later. But in 2004 many potential voters walked away from long lines created by the challenges. Some doubted that their provisional ballots would be counted.

The histrionics over the ACORN voter registrations and the new focus on getting Jennifer Brunner to employ cross matching have provided the poor slobs on the right the latest method to create that special underclass of voters. The key to this year's scheme is getting a court to enforce the tactics. The corollary to the plan is to turn up the heat on the ACORN story by drumming up white fear and relying on law enforcement to legitimize the fear about the group's activity. And yes, I said white fear. There are reports on numerous threats and racial slur laden emails the group has been receiving since the fear has been ratcheted up.

After losing 9-0 in the US Supreme Court the GOP re-modulated faster than the Borg and filed a new challenge with the Ohio Supremes. This latest filing should worry anyone concerned about the real integrity of this election considering the heavy conservative leaning of the Ohio court. A victory for the GOP will enshrine their caging tactic as version 2.0 and keep the tactic alive for future elections. If the SCO sides with Brunner then the chance to see a fair outcome in the Ohio becomes more of a reality. In the end the only real hedge for winning this election is an overwhelming force of support for the Democratic candidate.

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