They're going to be turning away Democrats at the polls today in Ohio.  Score one for tyranny.  Let the disenfranchisement begin...

From Court OKs Voter Challengers at Ohio Polls (AP via Yahoo):

Giving a pre-dawn Election Day boost to the GOP, a federal appeals court early Tuesday cleared the way for political parties to send in people to challenge voters' eligibility at Ohio polling places. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to step in...

...Republicans say they wanted challengers in many polling places because of concerns about fraud. Democrats have accused the GOP of trying to suppress Democratic turnout. Hundreds of thousands of voters have been newly registered in a state President Bush and Sen. John Kerry both say they need to win.

The 6th Circuit judges said that while it's in the public interest that registered voters cast ballots freely, there is also "strong public interest in permitting legitimate statutory processes to operate to preclude voting by those who are not entitled to vote." Smooth and effective administration of the voting laws means that the rules can't be changed hours before the election, they said.

The dissent by Judge R. Guy Cole said the Ohioans have the right to vote without the "threat of suppression, intimidation or chaos sown by partisan political operatives," and if voting rights are pitted against the possibility of fraud, the court must err on the side of voters.

As voting got under way after 6:30 a.m., Democratic challenger Vicki Lynn Ward sat at the Addison Branch Library in Cleveland while early-arriving voters punched their ballots. She said she was mainly waiting for a Republican challenger to show up.

"I'm just here to ensure that everyone's right to vote is protected — FROM unnecessary challenges," said Ward. She got the call at 2 a.m. that she would be allowed in the polling place...