REPUBLICAN VOTER INTIMIDATION AT OHIO POLLING SPOTS

They're not even being subtle about it.

Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.

Who the hell endowed the Republican Party with the authority to challenge voters' eligibility AT THE POLLS? Let's hope the Democrats have signed up enough counter-challengers to be on hand to protect legitimate voters rather than weed out ineligible ones.

Ohio election officials said that by state law, the parties' challengers would have to show "reasonable" justification for doubting the qualifications of a voter before asking a poll worker to question that person. And, the officials said, challenges could be made on four main grounds: whether the voter is a citizen, is at least 18, is a resident of the county and has lived in Ohio for the previous 30 days.

Just how, pray tell, are the Republican voter-challengers supposed to be able to tell, just by looking at a voter, whether or not s/he's a citizen, 18 or older, a county resident or a 30-day Ohio resident? This smacks of a concerted effort to slow down voting, creating long lines and creating a climate in which some voters will become discouraged and leave without voting.

This is really an incredible development. Read the whole thingl.