RTNDA fighting news blackouts in OH polls

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has banned reporters from providing accounts of the voting process in that state, enforcing a "100-foot protection zone" which the media are not allowed to cross. The US District Court Judge Paul Matia has upheld the ban, which is being challenged by the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

RTNDA President Barbara Cochran said, "RTNDA strongly condemns the efforts of officials in various states, including Ohio and Florida, to keep journalists from witnessing what is happening in polling places today. With all of the pre-Election Day concerns about voter intimidation, the public will rely on the accounts of independent journalists to assure them that the voting process is being conducted fairly and with integrity. This is no time to lock out the news media."

RTNDA Regional Director Ed Esposito, who runs the news departments for a trio of Ohio radio stations, said, "Denying the ability of the media, both broadcast and print, to accurately report on voting inside the polling place during the 2004 campaign ignores the basic tenet of the First Amendment and also denies the public the 'eyes and ears' of its representatives in the media to observe the performance of the process."

Blackwell's argument is this: "allowing anyone inside the mandated 100-foot protection zone aside from voters and election officials would violate Ohioans' right to vote in privacy - - and I will not allow it. The news media have not only sued me in this frivolous case, they have sued by proxy the people of Ohio and the 45,000-plus hardworking poll workers who will be doing everything within their power to ensure an orderly and efficient election."

RBR observation:
A voter's right to privacy is guaranteed by the curtain around whatever vote-counting device is being used. A 100-foot artificial curtain is completely unnecessary. You'd think that this would be a slam-dunk win for RTNDA. Have Mr. Blackwell and Justice Matia ever heard of the Constitution? And it's even more serious than that. There have been numerous charges of voter suppression efforts on one side and voter fraud efforts on the other, and both sides will have troops on the ground. Do we really want this battle to be waged in secret? No. If this vote is going to be as close as everyone is predicting, and at this hour there is no reason to think any different, then the process must be as open as possible. That's what democracy is all about.