as residents in many states begin voting, a new round of legal skirmishes is emerging over rules for casting ballots, a potential harbinger of disputes to come. in texas, voting-rights advocates have urged state officials to address reports that several counties opened the state<u+2019>s early voting period on oct. 24 with incorrect signs indicating that voters must show photo identification to cast a ballot. a court order issued in august required the state to make exceptions for people who couldn<u+2019>t reasonably obtain one of the types of id the state required. capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. some locations have acknowledged making initial errors. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s no excuse for that, and i own up to it,<u+201d> said elections administrator jacquelyn callanen in bexar county, home to the city of san antonio. ms. callanen said her staff had received three different versions of the signs in three months, and the outdated ones were displayed at some early voting sites.<u+00a0> the signs have been fixed, she said. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think it was intentional,<u+201d> said lannie noble, the administrator in denton county, where the wrong signs were also spotted in at least a couple of places. <u+00a0><u+201c>we didn<u+2019>t get a whole lot of notice when the court did what it did.<u+201d> this year has already seen legal showdowns in several potentially important states on issues such as voter-identification requirements, early voting days, registration deadlines and the restoration of voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences. it is possible more cases could arise as election day approaches, given this year<u+2019>s highly charged presidential contest. <u+201c>if there ever were a year where the unexpected could come up, this is it,<u+201d> said ohio state university law professor edward foley. in ohio, state democrats and a pair of homeless advocacy groups appealed to the u.s. supreme court this week seeking to stop state requirements that could lead to absentee and provisional ballots being rejected if voters make mistakes on the forms.<u+00a0> the rules could lead to thousands of ohio ballots being disallowed <u+201c>based upon technical and immaterial errors,<u+201d> the appeal said. justice elena kagan has asked the state to submit a legal response by monday. <u+00a0>ohio<u+2019>s republican secretary of state jon husted said democrats were seeking to <u+201c>inject chaos<u+201d> into the election. <u+201c>elections officials need a way to confirm that a person is a qualified, eligible voter before counting a ballot,<u+201d> he said. in arizona, democrats are awaiting an appeals-court ruling on their challenge to a gop state law that makes it a crime for get-out-the-vote operatives to collect and deliver absentee ballots filled out by voters.<u+00a0>they say the law will burden thousands of voters who rely on neighbors, activists and campaigns to collect and hand deliver their ballots. republicans say the law is a sensible response to legitimate concerns over election fraud and ballot tampering.<u+00a0>a trial judge ruled for the state last month, saying arizona had a legitimate interest in election integrity and the law imposed only a minimal burden on voting. the two political parties also are sparring in multiple courts over poll-watching measures. a pennsylvania federal judge on friday will consider a gop challenge to state rules that say residents are eligible to monitor elections only in the counties in which they reside.<u+00a0>republicans, who have plans to deploy poll watchers in heavily democratic urban areas, say voters have an interest in elections being conducted fairly across all counties, especially because some officials represent constituents who cross county lines. pennsylvania<u+2019>s democratic secretary of the commonwealth pedro cort<u+00e9>s responded in a court filing wednesday, saying the gop lawsuit was an <u+201c>eleventh-hour gambit<u+201d> that could <u+201c>compromise the fundamental rights of voters actually trying to cast peaceful votes.<u+201d> he said there were 3 million republicans in the state and there was no reason to believe the party couldn<u+2019>t find eligible poll watchers in every county. in neighboring new jersey, the democratic national committee on wednesday filed court papers accusing its counterpart, the republican national committee, of violating a longstanding consent decree that bars the rnc from engaging in ballot security measures on election day.<u+00a0>the settlement came from a lawsuit in the early 1980s that alleged the rnc engaged in efforts to interrogate and intimidate black voters. the democrats<u+2019> filing alleged that the rnc is supporting and enabling efforts by gop candidate donald trump <u+2019>s campaign to organize supporters <u+201c>to engage in voter intimidation via aggressive poll monitoring in predominantly minority communities.<u+201d> the rnc said the filing was <u+201c>completely meritless.<u+201d> the committee <u+201c>does not take part directly or indirectly in any efforts to prevent or remedy vote fraud.<u+00a0> nor do we coordinate with the trump campaign or any other campaign or party organization in any efforts they may make in this area. the rnc remains focused on getting out the vote," said spokeswoman lindsay walters. <u+2014>byron tau contributed to this article. write to brent kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com
legal skirmishes erupt over voting rules as election day nears  - wsj
brent kendall