Judge rules Ohio homeless voters may list park benches as addresses

[Regis Philbin]

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/28/ajudgerule.html?sid=101

Judge rules Ohio homeless voters may list park benches as addresses

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1:32 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses.

U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus also ruled that provisional ballots can't be invalidated because of poll worker errors.

Monday's ruling resolved the final two pieces of a settlement between the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

The coalition agreed to drop a constitutional challenge to Ohio's voter identification law until after the Nov. 4 election. In return, Brunner and the coalition agreed on procedures to verify provisional ballots across all Ohio counties.

The coalition was concerned that unequal treatment of provisional ballots would disenfranchise some voters.

[LesterX]

Good for the judge. Why should homeless be prevented from voting?

[lions1mew]

They are still Americans, therefore they are citizens with the right to vote.

[AlexzAficionado]

Good call.

This will affect things if votes are counted.

[Murrican]

We have a different way of registering voters here in Canada -- the government election authority does it and maintains the voter's list between elections -- so this whole issue and the ACORN sideshow is just like so much bizarroland for me.

I'd say give them an address that is unassailable -- City Hall, the main city Post Office, or even a bomb shelter. (We had those when I quickly left the US in the 60s; you still have those, right?)

That way they can be given some proof of identity and matched to a list. And, scooped off the street on brutally cold nights so they can temporarily be inside where it's warm... The nanny state has a role, too.

M