Friday, October 31, 2008
NAACP pulls election injunction request
Lawyers for the group had accused Virginia of not being prepared in majority black precincts.
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From The Roanoke Times
RICHMOND -- The Virginia chapter of the NAACP has withdrawn a request for an injunction in a lawsuit challenging the state's preparations for Tuesday's elections, but still has concerns about potential barriers for minority voters.
Lawyers for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a motion Thursday in U.S. District Court in Richmond after receiving new information that could affect their decision to proceed with the lawsuit. A hearing scheduled for Thursday was canceled.
The NAACP and the Washington-based Advancement Project have questioned Virginia's allocation of voting machines and poll workers, particularly in majority black voting precincts in Norfolk, Richmond and Virginia Beach. They want election officials to reallocate machines to precincts where long lines are expected, allow the use of paper ballots for voters waiting in line longer than 45 minutes and keep polls open an additional two hours.
"We are assessing the information but are still concerned the Virginia voters are going to be faced with extraordinary wait times," said Judith Browne-Dianis, co-director of Advancement Project.
Officials with the state board of elections said earlier this week that the lawsuit is based on outdated information about the number of voting machines and the manpower available at polling precincts. In a motion, lawyers from the NAACP said they received "relevant information which was previously unavailable" in a mediation conference and will analyze it before deciding whether to seek an injunction.
In a news release, the Advancement Project said the new information indicates that Norfolk, Richmond and Virginia Beach have added voting machines and poll workers since it published a report criticizing the state's election preparations.
More than 5 million Virginians are registered to vote, including more than 436,000 who have registered since Jan. 1.
The statewide inventory of voting machines has increased by 78 percent since the 2004 presidential election, and state officials note that every precinct meets legal requirements for having sufficient equipment. The state also has added about 300 polling places and more than 10,000 poll workers since 2004.
Gov. Tim Kaine said in an interview that the legal challenge will not cast a cloud over next week's elections. Kaine, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said voters should be prepared to wait in lines but should not have difficulty casting ballots.
"I think we're going to run a clean and fair election," Kaine said. "We feel like we can handle the higher than normal participation."
