This Should Cheer up Some People

[Guest MikeSC]

Johnny, we hardly knew ye

If there's a second term for President Bush, few expect Attorney General John Ashcroft, a lightning rod for criticism, to stick with the team. Personally, Ashcroft has been wearied by a painful bout of pancreatitis. And politically, Bush will need a mediator, not a terminator, when sensitive matters like reauthorizing portions of the controversial U.S.A. Patriot Act come up next year. The fear among some administration and Hill officials is that Ashcroft is so polarizing he'd only get in the way. (Many Bush officials plan to leave at the end of this term.) So no matter what happens November 2, the country should have a new top cop, sources say. On the GOP side, the front-runner is said to be former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, who was recently named general counsel at PepsiCo, followed by Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot. If Sen. John Kerry prevails, his nominee is thought to be New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid --who, being Hispanic and female, would give Kerry a twofer. Next up would be Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, an African-American

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/041025/...25whisplead.htm

-=Mike

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

I'm not a fan of this AG work. But I wish Ashcroft the best with his health.

 

(In the interests of saying nice stuff about Ashcroft. #1 - we're sorta in the same denomination of Christianity. Meaning that I went to Assembly of God youth group stuff for a few years. #2 - To say he "lost to a dead guy" is unfair. The whole Mel Carnahan thing had to be difficult to deal with in the first place. Mel won the election. Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

[Guest Cerebus]

Good. But since most AGs in the last few administrations have been off their rocker I doubt his replacement will be much better.

[Dr. Tom 0]

No Ashcroft? w00t~! I can now vote for President Bush without hesitation.

[Styles 0]

Awesome. There's one monkey off the back. Hoepfully more independents can warm to Bush now.

[teke184 0]

The funny thing is that Ashcroft is STILL the best Attorney General in the last 12 years...

 

 

Hell, probably longer than that depending on the opinions you hold on Ed Meese (Mr. anti-porno himself under Reagan).

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General

 

 

The most recent Attorney General with any (positive) notoriety is RFK in the 1960s.

 

Most other AGs in the past 40 years who get mentioned were colossal screwups (Janet Reno, John Mitchell) or people famous for reasons OTHER than their performances as AG.

 

Examples-

 

Richard Kleindienst and Elliot Richardson are famous only for getting fired by Richard Nixon for refusing to dismiss the Special Prosecutor for Watergate.

 

Ramsay Clark is more well-known for his anti-Vietnam War stance and his habits of representing scumbags like Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor of Liberia than his time as LBJ's AG.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

it's good to see all the colors of the political rainbow coming together. Um, in hatred. I'll take it.

[snuffbox 0]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

[SuperJerk 0]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

The acting governor (Roger Wilson) announced he'd appoint Carnahan's widow Jean to serve until the special election, garnering a huge sympathy vote.

 

Hundreds of people (such as myself) voted absentee before the plane crash.

I used to tell people "He was alive when I voted for him!"

(Not that I would've voted for Ashcroft again under any circumstances.)

 

What's even wierder is that the night he died I had a dream about meeting him. I learned the next morning about the plane crash.

[Guest MikeSC]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

And Ashcroft COULD have sued and won in court --- since Carnahan could not handle the single most basic requirement of office, namely living in MO.

-=Mike

[snuffbox 0]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

And Ashcroft COULD have sued and won in court --- since Carnahan could not handle the single most basic requirement of office, namely living in MO.

-=Mike

In retrospect...I think he would have made a better second-choice Senator than AG.

[teke184 0]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

And Ashcroft COULD have sued and won in court --- since Carnahan could not handle the single most basic requirement of office, namely living in MO.

-=Mike

In retrospect...I think he would have made a better second-choice Senator than AG.

Some people have made the argument that irregularities in the St. Louis voting in 2000 is the reason that John Ashcroft is the most hated man in the US rather than some anonymous senator who ran against a dead guy.

 

That was a really close election (roughly 50,000 votes difference out of 2.3 million cast) and there were questions about some of the ballots, especially since one particular polling station was open longer than they were allowed to by law.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Ashcroft being mocked for losing to a "dead guy" is inaccurate. It's not like his opponent is some unknown. Mel Carnahan was the Governor of Missouri for over 7 years.)

Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.

And Ashcroft COULD have sued and won in court --- since Carnahan could not handle the single most basic requirement of office, namely living in MO.

-=Mike

He could have possibly won.

 

But Mel Carnahan met all the requirements at the filing deadline and the deadline to withdraw. And when his term began, his wife was appointed (effective at the beginning of the term) to fill his seat until 2002.

 

Hale Boggs and Nick Begich (to name two) won re-election after dying in a plane crash. Special elections were held to fill their seats. In those cases, they wouldn't be citizens of their states if Carnahan wasn't.

 

I don't think there's legal precedent for Ashcroft to sue and get re-elected on those grounds. Plus, it'd be unpopular in the state.

 

Some people have made the argument that irregularities in the St. Louis voting in 2000 is the reason that John Ashcroft is the most hated man in the US rather than some anonymous senator who ran against a dead guy.

 

That was a really close election (roughly 50,000 votes difference out of 2.3 million cast) and there were questions about some of the ballots, especially since one particular polling station was open longer than they were allowed to by law.

 

The St. Louis in 2000 incident was unusual. I've also heard some claims that they closed that one station early. But then again, it wasn't a deciding factor in Carnahan, nor Bob Holden's victories.

 

(Remember, Holden's margin of victory in the Governors race over Jim Talent was 21,000 votes. Carnahan beat Ashcroft by 49,000 votes)

 

Something makes me really doubt that 49,000 people voted at one polling station in the 90 minutes (or so) that it was open

[Guest MikeSC]

He could have possibly won.

 

But Mel Carnahan met all the requirements at the filing deadline and the deadline to withdraw. And when his term began, his wife was appointed (effective at the beginning of the term) to fill his seat until 2002.

 

Hale Boggs and Nick Begich (to name two) won re-election after dying in a plane crash. Special elections were held to fill their seats. In those cases, they wouldn't be citizens of their states if Carnahan wasn't.

 

I don't think there's legal precedent for Ashcroft to sue and get re-elected on those grounds. Plus, it'd be unpopular in the state.

Thing is, Carnahan could not fulfill the simplest requirement of elective office --- he could not serve. If the GOP and Ashcroft wanted to fight the decision, they stood an excellent chance to win, IMO. Ashcroft and the GOP decided not to simply because it would be a much bigger headache than it would be worth.

Some people have made the argument that irregularities in the St. Louis voting in 2000 is the reason that John Ashcroft is the most hated man in the US rather than some anonymous senator who ran against a dead guy.

 

That was a really close election (roughly 50,000 votes difference out of 2.3 million cast) and there were questions about some of the ballots, especially since one particular polling station was open longer than they were allowed to by law.

 

The St. Louis in 2000 incident was unusual. I've also heard some claims that they closed that one station early. But then again, it wasn't a deciding factor in Carnahan, nor Bob Holden's victories.

 

(Remember, Holden's margin of victory in the Governors race over Jim Talent was 21,000 votes. Carnahan beat Ashcroft by 49,000 votes)

 

Something makes me really doubt that 49,000 people voted at one polling station in the 90 minutes (or so) that it was open

Let's just say that MO should be glad that FL was so close --- because what happened there was borderline criminal.

 

The suit brought forth to keep the polls open later than the normal closed time was filed on behalf of a person who did not exist. People were registered to vote on the day of the election by a judge with absolutely no legal justification for a startlingly large number of the rulings. The polls stayed open ATFER a Superior Court ordered them closed.

 

MO --- in particular St. Louis --- has a long history of exceptionally shady electoral proceedings.

-=Mike

[Vern Gagne 0]

Going more in depth anyone know what officials won't be returning?

[Guest MikeSC]

Going more in depth anyone know what officials won't be returning?

There will likely be considerable turnover.

 

Powell is unlikely to return. I wouldn't be shocked --- though I doubt it --- if Rumsfeld steps down. Ashcroft seems to be out.

-=Mike

[Special K 0]

Sweet! Does that mean I can see that sweet, sweet breast on lady justive now?

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Thing is, Carnahan could not fulfill the simplest requirement of elective office --- he could not serve. If the GOP and Ashcroft wanted to fight the decision, they stood an excellent chance to win, IMO. Ashcroft and the GOP decided not to simply because it would be a much bigger headache than it would be worth.

Do you care to point out a single case in this country where one candidate on the ballot died, was elected, and the second place candidate was then given the seat?

 

When it comes to a precedent for either an appointment or a new election, there's more precedent for that.

 

Another example: Gladys Spellman had a heart attack days before the election and she went into a coma. She was re-elected and then in February 1981, the House decided to remove her due to her illness (since she was still in a coma) and then they called an election.

 

As for fighting being a headache.. well, it would be a huge headache. You already had a majority of voters who voted for Mel Carnahan, and then you'd have Ashcroft supporters who wouldn't be for such actions either. Which means Ashcroft's career would be ruined.

 

As well, the only time to really sue to get Carnahan off of the ballot would have been before the election. But, that wouldn't go over well either. Plus, state law says that he had to remain on the ballot. So you either go for him being on the ballot, or for a pissed off populace voting for his widow and sending you to the unemployment line for trying to get Mel off of the ballot.

 

Let's just say that MO should be glad that FL was so close --- because what happened there was borderline criminal.

 

These are some of the states which had closer Presidential races in 2000 than Missouri (Missouri's margin was 78,786 votes or 3.34 percent between Bush and Gore

 

Arkansas (50,172 votes, 5.44%) - Bush

Iowa (4,144, 0.31%) - Gore

Minnesota (58,607, 2.40%) - Gore

Nevada (21,597, 3.55%) - Bush

New Hampshire (7,211, 1.27%) - Bush

New Mexico (366 votes, 0.06%) - Gore

Oregon (6,765, 0.44%) - Gore

Wisconsin (5,708, 0.22%) - Gore

 

If Florida had been normal. I doubt the lawyers would be going to St. Louis first.

 

The suit brought forth to keep the polls open later than the normal closed time was filed on behalf of a person who did not exist.

 

Do you have any more info on who this non-existant person was? (or was claimed to be)

 

People were registered to vote on the day of the election by a judge with absolutely no legal justification for a startlingly large number of the rulings.

 

11/8/2000 (Post-Dispatch) with the coverup

 

People are put on the inactive list if they haven't voted since 1994, failed to respond to a mail canvass in the spring and the post office returned to the Election Board a prepaid card sent to their address. If they can prove they still live at the address at which they registered, they are allowed to vote.

 

Election Board offices on North Tucker Boulevard were clogged with several hundred people most of the day. Board employees said the throng was a mixture of people on the inactive list and others wanting to register after the regular Oct. 11 deadline.

 

Kevin Copeland, a GOP official, complained that Democrats orchestrated a "backdoor" effort to get people registered after the legal deadline. Six circuit judges registered at least 186 people Tuesday at the board.

 

David Zimmerman, 29, and his wife, Laura, 27, moved to St. Louis from Indiana. They said they registered to vote at the drivers license facility but when they showed up at their polling place, they were told they were not in the system.

 

The couple went to the Election Board office downtown.

 

I'd say that the process of how the election was conducted in St. Louis was pretty damned bad.

 

Post-Dispatch, 1/13/01

But state House Minority Leader Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, said election-night troubles weren't confined to the city. At her polling place in St. Louis County, Hanaway said she and her husband arrived at 8 a.m. That was about the same time that a revised voter list arrived, listing those had most recently registered.

 

Since polling places had been open two hours by then, Hanaway said some registered voters on that list may have been improperly turned away.

 

Basically, the operation was run in a lousy matter. If Miss Hanaway's claims are true, then heads needed to roll. If you are working in a polling place on Election Day. You get your stuff ready by 6am. Anything less is just negligence.

 

the polls stayed open ATFER a Superior Court ordered them closed.

 

Any proof of this?

 

Articles to be filed somewhere in this discussion:

 

St. Louis Post Dispatch, 9/25/2004

In 2000, a St. Louis judge ordered local polls kept open after 7 p.m. in response to Democratic lawsuits charging that hundreds of voters were turned away from the polls. An appeals court swiftly overruled the judge and closed the polls.

 

A report by Secretary of State Matt Blunt — a Republican now looking to become governor — later concluded that court orders issued in the city and county of St. Louis improperly allowed 1,233 people to vote that day.

 

Post-Dispatch, 7/26/01

 

Blunt declared that the additional illegal votes came from:

 

* 114 felons who were improperly allowed to vote.

 

* At least 23 people who appeared to have voted twice.

 

* 14 illegal ballots apparently cast in the name of dead voters.

 

He raised questions about 138 other votes, because of suspicions that additional people voted twice or used fraudulent addresses.

 

The number of alleged illegal votes wouldn't have altered the results in several close Missouri contests Nov. 7. Blunt said his aim was to protect the sanctity of future elections.

 

Post-Dispatch, 7/29/01

 

When Secretary of State Matt Blunt issued his report last week alleging almost 1,400 illegal local votes in the election Nov. 7, the key - and less-talked-about - point was where most of those suspect votes were cast.

 

St. Louis County.

 

"I think we're the target," said Judy Taylor, St. Louis County's Democratic elections director.

 

And some Republicans agree. "There is a rising concern that we be more vigilant about how elections are run in St. Louis County," said county GOP party chairman Paul Ground.

 

Some years back, a St. Louis mayor quipped that he provided the "sizzle" while his St. Louis County counterpart offered the "steak."

 

The same can be said of the city and the county today - especially when it comes to politics.

 

The city's sizzle often draws national attention: Bogus voter-registration cards featuring dead people and a dog, the flap over the attempt on Nov. 7 to keep polls open to 10 p.m., the alderman who appeared to urinate in a trash can during a recent City Hall debate.

 

But the county provides the substance. Politicians knows that it's St. Louis County and its 650,000 voters who decide almost every Missouri election. The county defeated the concealed-weapons proposal in 1999 and decided the closest contests last year.

 

The city's shrinking Democratic voter base may be entertaining, but it doesn't determine who wins and who loses in Missouri. Its votes are matched by the GOP-leaning voters outstate.

 

It's St. Louis County that rules.

 

Bob Holden is governor because he barely carried St. Louis County and Republican Jim Talent didn't. St. Louis County's preference for Jean Carnahan is the chief reason she's in the U.S. Senate. Look at each Democrat's margin of victory in St. Louis County and their margin statewide; it's almost identical.

 

Al Gore was the only Democrat who carried St. Louis County and lost statewide.

 

That's a dramatic switch from the 1970s and 1980s, when St. Louis County's overwhelming Republican vote helped the GOP capture and keep most of the statewide offices.

 

But demographics changed the landscape. Democratic-leaning residents are leaving the city and resettling in the county. County GOP chairman Ground fears that the city's questionable election antics have moved with them.

 

Last fall's election results brought the issue to a head. That's why the GOP is overhauling its half of the county's Election Board, and forced the replacement of longtime Republican elections director Karen Grace - a moderate deemed too accommodating to Democrats.

 

And as Democrats see it, the county was the real reason Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., was pounding the lectern on Nov. 7. Bond was screaming about possible vote fraud in the city. But he'd just come from a closed-door briefing where GOP leaders learned that most of their candidates were losing in St. Louis County.

 

At a celebratory dinner last month, county Democrats cheered as Bond's televised anguish - "It's an outrage!" - was repeatedly replayed on a large screen. Joyce Aboussie, political director to U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., touched off an ovation when she shouted that St. Louis County was now Democratic turf and Republicans should "get over it!"

 

All this plays into the official county reaction to Blunt's report, and the praise it drew from Bond and other Republicans.

 

"I find it very strange that Kit Bond never complained about court orders when Republicans carried St. Louis County," said Taylor, of the County Election Board.

 

Republicans say judges granted too many court orders to allow unregistered people to cast ballots. Taylor and the judges say they complied with the law, and are offended that Blunt released his findings without giving the county a copy.

 

Taylor says the board has used bipartisan teams to investigate some of t he alleged illegal votes that Blunt cites. She said none have panned out so far. For example, she said, one case of a voter suspected of casting two ballots turned out to be a father and son with the same name who were incorrectly recorded with the same identification number.

 

Bond is unmoved. "The 14 dead people who voted last November are probably the only Missourians who don't know that we are facing the largest vote fraud scandal in the city and county's recent history," he said. "There is one simple reason why we are looking at the county now. That's where the fraud is."

 

Post-Dispatch, 11/6/2001

 

Dozens of St. Louis voters are being wrongly accused of casting ballots from fraudulent addresses in last year's Nov. 7 election.

 

They are among thousands of registered voters who, based on city property records, appear to live on vacant lots.

 

But a Post-Dispatch survey of every one of those suspect properties turned up something else: hundreds of bona fide houses and apartment buildings that seem to be wrongly classified by the city assessor's office as vacant lots.

 

Because of those inaccurate records, many of those properties' occupants have been wrongly tagged as registering to vote from fake addresses.

 

City records indicate that 2,214 residents appear to be registered to vote from 1,000 vacant lots. State and local elections officials have targeted 79 of them for casting possibly illegal ballots last fall.

 

The Post-Dispatch count found 432 city residents registered from 296 truly vacant lots. But most of those residents haven't voted in years, an indication they may have moved elsewhere.

 

Only 14 of those people appear to have voted last November or in a special state Senate election in January.

 

None voted in the closely monitored mayoral primary in March.

 

The secretary of state's office says such voters have broken no election laws if they can prove that they legitimately reside elsewhere in the city.

 

But most of the 79 people on the state's suspect voter list from last fall probably shouldn't be on it.

 

They're voters like city Budget Director Frank Jackson, who has a legitimate address.

 

His 10-year-old condominium in the 1200 block of Hadley Street is erroneously listed as a vacant lot on city assessment records.

 

All told, the Post-Dispatch survey of alleged vacant lots with registered voters found 704 legitimate addresses citywide that are wrongly classified. Some are newer homes like Jackson's.

 

Others are residences that are 50 years old or more. Some are b usinesses or lots that have been turned into side yards by neighbors who have bought the land.

 

The city's misclassification of the properties affects the voter status of the 1,782 occupants because state and local election officials rely on those property records to help find those who might be casting illegal votes from fictional addresses. The apparent errors also raise questions about whether those properties are assessed at the right level.

 

New city Assessor Samuel Simon, appointed last month, said that his staff was examining records to determine whether the office concurred or disagreed with the Post-Dispatch findings. "While 700 out of 138,000 represent 1/2 of 1 percent of the city's parcels, any errors are unacceptable," he said. "As a result, it appears that the property owners in question were undertaxed rather than overtaxed."

 

He added, "When Mayor (Francis) Slay appointed me, he ordered me to improve the reliability of the city's assessments and assessment records."

 

The city Election Board tried to do a physical survey last winter after it alleged that 1,000 people might have vacant-lot addresses. Election officials complained then of faulty city property records.

 

The board's final number of suspect registered voters was 161. At most of those alleged vacant-lot voter sites, the Post-Dispatch found legitimate addresses.

 

Jackson first discovered his home's faulty vacant-lot listing when he went to vote in the mayoral primary. He'd never been questioned at the polls before. But because of accusations of misdeeds in November, federal and state monitors were at the polls.

 

"The people at the polling place had a notation by my name, and said I couldn't vote," Jackson recalled.

 

When he learned that he had been targeted as a possible lawbreaker, Jackson assembled the documentation needed to clear his property and his name. He also got to vote.

 

But the correct information apparently wasn't forwarded to Secretary of State Matt Blunt's office, which still includes Jackson on its list of suspect voters.

 

A spokesman for Blunt said state election officials have long been concerned about the vacant-lot voting issue because "it's a local legend in St. Louis."

 

Sheila Greenbaum, the city Election Board's new Democratic elections director, said the Post-Dispatch's survey confirmed her view that the accusation of rampant vacant-lot voting "is overblown."

 

But Blunt replied, "The Post-Dispatch's discovery that the city board's list of vacant lots is inaccurate is shocking. This suggests that the system is even more in need of reform than we'd previously imagined."

 

Blunt said he planned to call for the Legislature to take action when it goes back into session in January.

 

Election Board regroups

 

Questions about the accuracy of the city's list of possible vacant-lot voters echo the confusion that continues to plague the city's Election Board almost a year after last November's disaster at the polls.

 

Hundreds of people, mostly in St. Louis and some in St. Louis County, claimed they were wrongly turned away from the polls on Election Day and sought court orders to let them vote. Democratic officials sued to keep the polls open three extra hours - until 10 p.m. - but a judge ordered them closed after about 45 minutes. Hundreds of people went to Election Board headquarters downtown seeking to vote.

 

Since then, there have been city, state and federal investigations of the confusion at dozens of polling places.

 

On Election Night, Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., alleged rampant vote fraud in the city, pounding the podium and shouting, "It's an outrage!"

 

Bond and Blunt say they suspect that at least 1,500 residents in St. Louis and St. Louis County may have been improperly allowed to cast ballots. The bulk of those votes were allowed under court orders that Bond and Blunt say shouldn't have been granted.

 

Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-St. Louis, is among those who contend that perhaps thousands of legitimate city voters were turned away on Nov. 7 because they had been erroneously included on a new "inactive voter" list and could not correct their status before the polls closed.

 

Gov. Bob Holden replaced the entire four-member board in May. The new board recently hired new Democratic and Republican elections directors to oversee the mandated overhaul.

 

Greenbaum, a lawyer, said she's committed to improving the city's elections operations. The staff is reviewing Blunt's report that outlined his concerns that last November's elections in the city were rife with administrative problems and voter fraud.

 

Meanwhile, a federal grand jury here and Justice Department officials in Washington continue to investigate allegations of election-related wrongdoing.

 

A key issue is the city's bloated voter rolls, which all sides agree likely include tens of thousands of names that shouldn't be on them. That includes duplicate registrations and those of people who are dead or no longer reside in the city.

 

The Post-Dispatch found at least 250 city voters with multiple registrations.

 

But as Jackson's predicament shows, correcting those voter lists means tackling problems elsewhere in city government.

 

Some fail to report moves

 

What about the 14 recent city voters who are registered from vacant lots?

 

Most could not be traced to other addresses or reached for comment. One man listed as a vacant-lot voter reports a neighboring address - which does exist - on his drivers license, according to state records.

 

Three of the alleged vacant-lot voters come from one family. They're relatives of Otis Woodard, director of North St. Louis Outreach for Lutheran Family & Children's Services. He also is co-host of a morning radio show on station WEW, 770 AM.

 

Woodard's wife, Debbie Woodard, and two of his adult children - Brigitte and Otis Woodard - are registered to vote from 2023 Bissell Street. The address is in the midst of a grassy stretch of vacant land that spans much of the block. The Woodards own most of it.

 

The elder Woodard said that he'd raised his family in that house, but that a fire had destroyed it several years ago. Various adult family members moved elsewhere, he said. Some - including his wife - had failed to revise their voter registrations to reflect their new addresses, which he says are still in the city.

 

"It's not a case of anybody trying to defraud the city," Woodard said. He speculated that since some of his children have moved frequently, they were waiting until they were settled before changing their voter registration.

 

"Voter registrations sometime get lost in the shuffle," Woodard said, adding that he thinks many of the city's poor move frequently and just want to know where their polling place is.

 

Blunt said he recognized the difficulty some people have in updating their voter registration.

 

"Voters have a responsibility to update local election authorities when their physical address changes," he said. "But case law makes it difficult to enforce this."

 

He contended that the vacant-lot confusion in St. Louis might help him win support for his proposed changes in state election laws.

 

NOTES:

Reporter Jo Mannies:; E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: 314-340-8334

 

CORRECTION-DATE: November 6, 2001

 

CORRECTION:

St. Louis Budget Director Frank Jackson did vote in the mayoral primary in March. A caption on a photo of his home on Monday indicated otherwise. He initially was prevented from voting but then was allowed to vote after getting the proper documentation. In addition, his condominium is listed properly in current city assessment records. The caption incorrectly reported its status.

 

Post-Dispatch, 11/8/2000

Polling places in the city of St. Louis were kept open an extra 45 minutes Tuesday night after Democratic officials convinced a circuit judge that voters were being shortchanged by long lines and not enough ballots, poll workers or other equipment.

 

Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker ruled Tuesday evening that the city Election Board "failed to live up to its duty to the voters of this city" and -- less than an hour before the polls' regular 7 p.m. closing -- she ordered them kept open until 10 p.m. A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals overturned Baker's ruling and ordered the polls shut down at 7:45 p.m.

 

and this is coming from a KC native who is pulling for the Astros to go to the World Series