Dems sue to keep polls open in Ohio

From ElectionLaw:

Lawsuit Over Long Lines in Ohio
11/02/04 (7:15 p.m. ET) - Democratic Party lawyers have brought a lawsuit in federal district court against the boards of election in Knox County and Franklin County (Columbus), arising from long lines that allegedly resulted from those counties failure to have enough voting machines in place. See this report for more. We're trying to track down the complaint and will post it on the EL@M site as soon as it's available. The lawsuit reportedly asks that voters in lines longer than two hours be given the option of casting a paper ballot. As of 5 pm, lines three hours long were reported. View the complaint

Documents Now Available in Lawsuit Over Long Lines in Ohio
11/02/04 (7:38 p.m. ET) - View the complaint

Extending Polling Hours
11/2/04 (7:42 p.m. ET) Analysis by Ruth Colker - One issue that is likely to arise as the polls start to close will be requests to extend polling hours. That issue arose at the conclusion of the 2000 Presidential election. In a case arising out of St. Louis, Missouri, a citizen sought to have the poll hours extended due to voting machine breakdowns and long lines. After holding a brief hearing, a local judge agreed to extend the hours of voting at polling places in the city. On appeal, the court of appeals of Missouri reversed the judge's decision finding that the judge had no authority to authorize voters who did not come to the polls during the hours established by the legislature to participate in the election. See Missouri v. Baker, 34 S.W.3d 410 (Ct. Appeals Mo. Dec. 6, 2000). The court suggested that the relief requested by the plaintiff could only be issued if the election rules were unconstitutional, because there were no statutory rules providing guidance for extending voting hours. If the Missouri precedent were followed in other jurisdictions, it would be very difficult to obtain voting hour extensions.

Update 8:13PM -

TRO Issued in Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell (Lawsuit Over Long Lines in Ohio)
11/02/04 (8:13 p.m. ET) - Judge Marbley has GRANTED Plaintiffs' motion for a TRO in the case arising from long lines in Franklin and Knox counties. The court orders that Blackwell and the county boards of elections "provide paper ballots or another mechanism to provide an adequate opportunity to vote." The order further directs that the two counties keep the polls open for all voters waiting in line as of 7:30 pm. View the order or View the complaint or View the TRO Motion

UPDATE 8:58PM -

Blackwell files Answer in Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell (Lawsuit Over Long Lines in Ohio)
11/02/04 (8:49 p.m. ET) - View the Answer

Franklin County Appeals Temporary Restraining Order in Ohio Democratic Party v. Blackwell (Lawsuit Over Long Lines in Ohio)
11/02/04 (8:41 p.m. ET) - View the Notice of Appeal

Cross posted at The Command Post.