This Could Be Awfully Damn Serious

by: phillip anderson

Tue Feb 06, 2007 at 18:00:00 PM EST

Republican Issues Extralegal Orders to Disobey Court Order

Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Sends Out Illegal Order
For Election Inspectors to Disregard County Attorney's Letter on Voter ID

Democrats: We're Prepared for the Worst

With four hours before polls close in the hotly-contested special election between Craig Johnson and Maureen O'Connell, the Republican County Board of Elections Commissioner has taken illegal steps designed to intimidate and suppress voters.

Commissioner John DeGrace has illegally ordered election inspectors to disregard a legally binding court order, as well as the written instructions of the Nassau County Attorney - effectively encouraging Republican poll workers to suppress voting by demanding identification from voters.

DeGrace issued an order on Board of Elections letterhead requiring Election Inspectors to "disregard" the Nassau County Attorney's letter delivered to all poll watchers this morning.

Johnson campaign spokesperson Alex Navarro said, "We're prepared for the worst. Our campaign has deployed dozens of extra voter protection attorneys to at-risk areas, We have real concerns that Commissioner DeGrace is attempting to interfere with the lawful conduct of the last hours of this critical special election."

MUCH more on the flip...

DeGrace's actions are illegal for two reasons:

1. First, the Republican chair issued the order on official Board of Elections letterhead without informing the Democratic Commissioner, Bill Biamonte. Under law, neither Commissioner can act unilaterally. By issuing orders without informing his Democratic colleague, DeGrace has violated election law.

2. The order issued by Judge Brandveen last night is still in effect while a stay is in effect. Until this stay is lifted in Appellate Court, Judge Brandveen's order is still in full effect. Judge Brandveen's order stated that all polls and all poll workers should have access to the letter issued by the Nassau County Attorney, and requiring elections workers to disregard this law is requiring them to disobey a court order.

Background

Republican State Chair Joe Mondello had made public statements advising Republican poll workers to make blanket requests for identification.
In response to this, Judge Antonio Brandveen of the Nassau Supreme Court issued an order Monday evening that all poll sites and all poll workers have access to a letter drafted by the County Attorney's office which stated such requests "may be considered voter intimidation, and could result in legal action against the County."

In addition, the County Attorney's letter stated: "I am requesting that you immediately notify all special election poll workers and inspectors that they must not request identification of any person seeking to vote, unless there is an "ID" notification next to the bar code for the voter name on the registration poll ledger prepared by the Nassau County Board of Elections."

This afternoon, Judge Thomas Phelan of the Supreme Court of New York State ruled that, due to a technicality, Judge Brandveen's order should not have been filed. However, an immediate stay on Judge Phelan's decision was put into effect, which means that Judge Brandveen's orders are in effect until this stay can be lifted.

The Commissioner's order is below:

You can see the judge's order here.

Once again, this is what that "Spotlight" link at the end of every post is for.

Go for it.