GOP Officials Trying To Disqualify Iowa Student Ballots
The Iowa GOP appears to be distancing itself from a Monday effort to challenge thousands of student ballots at Grinnell College.
By The Huffington Post
November 4, 2008 01:22
PM
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GOP Officials Trying To Disqualify Iowa
Student Ballots
Spokesman Nathan Treloar told the Huffington Post on Tuesday that while he has "seen reports coming out that its Republican lawyers" objecting to student ballots, he claimed "this could be a local thing" at the county level.
Asked whether the state party has encouraged or endorsed the strategy, in which students who did not register to vote by affixing a PO box to their official university mailing address are being challenged, Treloar said "No, not that I have been made aware of." Treloar then suggested contacting the Republican chair in Poweshiek county, where Grinnell is located.
But if the Iowa Republican Party is not eager to be associated with the challenging the ballots of young voters, they have yet to communicate their displeasure to those who are responsible for the tactic.
Reached by phone, Poweshiek Republican county chair Harry Meek not only claimed responsibility for the strategy, but said he had no idea whether the state party backed his move. "Yeah, it was us," he admitted, sounding somewhat resigned. Asked if he knew how the state party viewed their legal challenge of young voters, Meek said, "I couldn't tell ya."
"We were told that Secretary of State in Iowa had made some concessions for students -- as long as they put down the [university] post office address along with a PO box, that was adequate. So the ones we challenged were those that didn't have a PO box. It's real simple, we're just going by the rules. It says so right on the challenge affidavit."
For full story
see…
GOP Officials Trying To Disqualify Iowa
Student
Ballots