(cross-posted at Left in Lowell)
It seems that the RNC and DNC settled the DNC lawsuit on the GOPs plan to use foreclosures to challenge voters at the polls.
The Michigan Messenger:
Here is the text of the joint statement released by the parties in the case:
Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and individual Macomb County residents have alleged that the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and the Macomb County Republican Party were planning to use foreclosure lists to challenge certain voters on Election Day. The Republicans have denied the allegations and have stated that they never intended to challenge voters based on any such list. To clarify the matter for all voters, all parties are pleased that they agree that the existence of a person’s address on a foreclosure list does not provide a reasonable basis for challenging the person’s eligibility to vote and that none of these parties will challenge any voter’s eligibility on that basis.
Both sides agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be re-filed.
But here is the sticky wicket:
Michigan law does not require the challenger to reveal the source of the information on which a voter is challenged, which means the GOP can simply incorporate the foreclosure lists into a larger challenge list and use that larger list at the polls to challenge voters. The DNC’s attorney seems to think they wouldn’t dare do that now after agreeing in court that this is not a valid reason to challenge a voter. I’m not convinced.
What do you think? Would they dare? I’m betting that weeks after the election, someone will either find (either from outside investigation or internal leaks) that there was a ‘mistake’ in that the foreclosure list wasn’t successfully perged from the overall list.
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