Va. NAACP sues governor over election readiness

By BOB LEWIS
Associated Press Writer
Published: October 27, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)—The Virginia NAACP sued Gov. Tim Kaine on Monday, arguing that the state has failed to prepare for an unprecedented voter turnout in next week’s presidential election.

The complaint, filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, alleges that with record increases in voter registration, the state has failed to provide enough polling places.

It asks the court to:

-Get more voting machines and distribute them in a way that cuts projected waiting times at crowded precincts to 45 minutes or less;

-Reallocate the existing inventory of voting machines and instruct poll workers to give voters who face a wait of more than 45 minutes the option of voting by paper ballot;

-Extend poll closing time from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET statewide, giving voters two additional hours to get to their precincts.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People contended in a 27-page lawsuit that the failure to provide more voting machines, particularly in majority black precincts, violates the state and U.S. constitutions and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Virginians are going to turn out in large numbers and election officials must act quickly to make sure their failure to prepare doesn’t become a barrier to voting,“ King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the Virginia NAACP, said in a news release.

Besides Kaine, a Democrat and close political and personal ally of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, defendants include 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.

It could not be determined after court hours Monday when a hearing would be held.

The Board of Elections said in a statement that all jurisdictions have the legally required number of voting machines or voting booths, and that many far exceed the mandate. Virginia has 10,600 voting machines, an 86 percent increase from 2004, the board said.

The board also said an additional 300 polling places have been established, the number of people assigned as election officers or alternates has been increased by 50 percent and the number of jurisdictions using electronic poll books that provide faster voter check-in has increased from five to 17.

“We will work with the office of the attorney general to respond to the suit in the coming days,“ the board said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes eight days before the first election in decades in which Virginia is a battleground state. No Democrat has won Virginia in a presidential race since 1964, but new polls show Obama pulling ahead.

It notes that many polling places in Virginia were overwhelmed in the 2004 general election and that turnout records were shattered in this year’s Democratic primaries. In Virginia, 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 registered in Virginia, increasing the state’s 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.

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Associated Press writer Larry O’Dell in Richmond contributed to this report.