NAACP files suit against Gov Kaine (D-Va)

October 28, 2008

The NAACP has filed a lawsuit against Democratic Governor and vetted Obama VP candidate, Tim Kaine over inadequate election preparations in light of the projected heavy voter turnout.
According to the AP,

The defendants also incliude the State Board of Elections and its executive secretary, Nancy Rodrigues, and registrars and election officials in three of the state's largest cities — Richmond, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. They are seeking reallocation of voting machines to precincts most likely to have long waiting lines, specifically minority polling places, and to keep polls open for an additional two hours.

The lawsuit notes that many polling places in Virginia were overwhelmed during the February Democratic presidential primary that shattered records for turnout in Virginia nomination contests. Obama won with more than 1 million votes in a state where primaries historically pass with scant notice.

Since January, more than 436,000 new voters have been registered in Virginia, increasing the state's voter rolls largely because of Obama's historic position as the first black nominee for president.

"To adhere stubbornly to inadequate levels of resources in the face of the increased registration and increased turnout will result in a meltdown on Election Day," the complaint says.

In some precincts, officials ran out of ballots during the primary, leaving voters in tears and forced to mark their preferences on sheets of paper. The makeshift ballots were later rejected.

"The allocation of polling place resources is plainly irrational, nonuniform and likely discriminatory," wrote Henry L. Marsh, attorney for the NAACP and a Democratic state senator from Richmond.

Can someone explain to me the timing of this? They have known of the problem since the primaries and have known the about of newly registered voters so why wait till eight days before the general election to do anything? Does it have to do with the RNC's Ohio lawsuit? The DNC's Nevada lawsuit? There is something behind it - the question is what. Here's an article by cvllelaw on DemocraticCentral.com. I can't begin to tell you what it means.