Republicans in Ohio must really enjoy litigation:
President Barack Obama’s campaign filed a lawsuit in Columbus this afternoon, seeking to restore the three days of early voting prior to Election Day that the GOP-controlled legislature eliminated, the campaign announced in an exclusive interview with the Beacon Journal today.
The campaign claims changes made by the legislature created inequality among military voters who can cast early ballots through the day before the election and all other voters who only have until 6 p.m. on the Friday before the election to vote in-person absentee. This, the campaign contends, is a violation of the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution.“The last three days of early vote are especially important to ensuring a free and fair election,” Obama for America-Ohio Senior Advisor Aaron Pickrell, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a joint statement provided to the Beacon Journal today. “That is why today we are moving forward in the fight to reinstate the last three days of early voting and ensure that all Ohio voters can make their voices heard this November.”
In a convoluted and unprecedented turn of events, the legislature passed an election reform law that included a provision cutting off in-person early voting after 6 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day. A committee supported by Democrats and voter’s rights advocates circulated petitions, gathering more than 300,000 to get a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot repealing this law.
The legislature, at the urging of Secretary of State Jon Husted, voted to repeal the election law that was the subject of the referendum. However, the early voting restriction remained in play because it had been inserted into another piece of legislation. This strange jumble of events was expected to draw legal challenges.In 2008, 30 percent of all votes were cast early, with nearly 93,000 people casting their ballots in the last three days of early voting, according to Obama’s campaign.
Basically, Ohio Republicans passed yet another extremely restrictive voting law. Democrats, voting rights advocates and labor gathered signatures to put the law to a referendum using Ohio’s “citizen veto” process. In Ohio, qualifying for a referendum on a law has the effect of “staying” (stopping) the law from going into effect until voters weigh in on the law. Republicans responded to this by repealing their own voting law. Except, through legislative error or partisan motives, they didn’t repeal all the law’s provisions.
We now have a situation where uniformed and overseas voters may vote early up through the Monday before election day, and everyone else may vote early only through the Friday prior to election day. Generally, a state may not treat certain groups of voters differently. Any law has to apply across the board to all voters.
Restrictions on early voting are one of the most egregious tactics used by conservatives to suppress voting, because there is absolutely no reason to limit early voting other than to make voting more difficult for people who may not be able to get to the polls on a Tuesday. The early voting provisions were written to avoid what happened in 2004, where voters in certain precincts were forced to wait on line between 3 and 12 hours to vote. Many of those voters, of course, had to leave the line and not vote because of work or family obligations. Voting did not conclude in one Ohio polling place until 4 AM in the 2004 election. Early voting was designed as a safety valve to take some of the pressure off the system prior to election day after that 2004 debacle. It has been wildly successful. People really like early voting. 2008 went off without a hitch, partly because there were far fewer voters at the polls on election day with tens of thousands having voted early.
There’s simply no good reason to take those last three days away other than the fact that campaigns that have a large organizing presence on the ground, like the Obama campaign, benefit from “banking” votes prior to election day. The better organized, harder working campaign has the edge with early voting, because they can spread turn-out efforts over days rather than hours. That’s the one and only reason Republicans want to rescind or restrict early voting days. Doing that disadvantages the Obama campaign’s strength, which is on the ground organizing.
I’ll follow this and see how we do in court. I’d sure like to get those last three early voting days back.
Baud
Not really. The
wrongbetter guy won.tamied
Hi Kay, I was thinking about you today when I went to get my PA driver’s license picture taken. There was an older woman there and her ID card was about to expire so she wanted to get a new one. They charged her 12.50 and it had to be a money order (more money). I thought that voter ID cards would be free.
c u n d gulag
Coming soon:
Paint swatches at registration and election facilities – with a sign at the top that says, “IF you’re darker than the orangy-beige the arrow is pointing at – your day to vote is Wednesday, November 7th.
kindness
No ‘Good’ reason for us. For the right their ‘good’ reason is it increases their chances to win Ohio.
MikeJ
Related: Voter ID requirements in all 50 states.
japa21
Seems to me, having those final 2 weekend days would be crucial. But then I always felt our elections should last 2 days and be on Saturday and Sunday.
shoutingattherain
My ballot is mailed to me about 10 days before the election. I fill it out on Sunday while watching the football game. I drop it off at the County Elections Office by driving up to the little trailer they station in the parking lot, hand the guy who leans out the window my ballot, he gives me an “I VOTED” sticker and tells me “Thank you for voting” and I drive off.
Nobody tries to stop me. Nobody harasses me or questions whether I am eligible to vote. I can vote at any polling place anywhere in the state. 86% of Oregonians see this as a positive thing. I have no idea what planet the remaining 14% are from.
Spatula
Democrats fighting back.
What a concept.
Catsy
These kinds of tactics really should be the definitive evidence that the GOP’s primary goal here is voter suppression rather than the integrity of the voting process–for anyone who bothers to pay attention and think it through, that is.
Even though voting fraud is an almost nonexistent problem, you can still make an argument for wanting to prevent it with things like voter ID and whatnot. They are wrongheaded arguments, but they can be made in good faith out of ignorance. There is no purpose served by blocking early voting other than making it harder for people to vote. Period.
The Republican Party is objectively anti-democracy and un-American.
GregB
Tyranny!
Tyrants are the ones who try and expand voters rights, the patriots are the ones who restrict and regulate voters into oblivion.
arguingwithsignposts
There is really no good reason why voting in presidential elections should not be standard across the entire nation. I’d go so far as to say there should be no good reason U.S. Congressional elections shouldn’t be standard across the nation. That would put a stop to all this stupid shit.
shortstop
@Catsy:
Even worse than that–military, which unfortunately still votes majority Republican, can vote until the day before the election, but no one else can. It’s an in-your-face fuck you to Democrats.
shortstop
@arguingwithsignposts: Smiling dreamily as I picture myself casting a vote against Louie Gohmert, Mike Pence, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Joe Walsh…and on and on and on.
Redshift
@c u n d gulag:
Now they just do it in robocalls or by distributing flyers with no source identification. (Not kidding; this happens somewhere in Virginia is pretty much every election.)
Of course, it’s all wasted money and effort, a result of them believing their own prejudices that “those people” aren’t very bright.
Spatula
republican military fetish, only slightly less manic among the Dems, is creepy. always has been.
Roger Moore
Let me guess, the ratio of voters to voting booths is much higher in poor districts than in rich ones, guaranteeing incredibly long lines if poor people have reasonable turnout. But since that’s all financed at the local level, there’s no ill intent that can be pointed to as proof that it’s an attempt to disadvantage poor voters.
Culture of Truth
Under Ohio’s law, families of armed forces members and civilians overseas can vote through the Monday before an election, while early voting for all others ends on the preceding Friday
Why not make it simpler and just let Republicans vote until Wednesday and require Democrats to pass the American Ninja Course?
Geoduck
@shoutingattherain:
Washington state uses pretty much the same system now. Works quite well, although I do sorta miss the community feeling that comes from congregating at the polling place.
Redshift
@Catsy:
Only if you accept the standard definition of democracy. The modern conservative definition of democracy is “elections are held, and the right people win.” Look at how they organized the elections in Iraq. Look at the Bush Administration’s dealings with the Palestinians; pressing them to hold elections and then being horrified because the “wrong” people won.
Elections serve one purpose only to these people — to confer legitimacy on the anointed leaders. Will of the people ain’t got nothing to do with it.
shortstop
@Geoduck: I love that feeling, and I’ve always liked the physical aspects of walking to the polling place. But Chicago election judges are frequently so freaking stupid (I’ve been given the wrong ballot at least half a dozen times, and contemptuous ennui approximately describes the usual attitude), and the electioneering so intense just inches outside the prescribed distance from the polling place, that I find myself voting early whenever I can.
kay
@Roger Moore:
That was Ken Blackwell, the sec of state in 2004.
Colleges were (mysteriously) short of voting machines, too, so it wasn’t just poor people.
Steve
Kay, there’s something very troubling about this post. Out here in New York, people do indeed wait “on line” to cast their votes. But where I’m from, back in the Midwest, nobody says it that way. Everyone says “wait in line.” You are the first Midwesterner I’ve ever encountered to say it the other way, and it’s disturbing!
sab
In my county in Ohio the Republicans on the Board of Elections wanted to cut the number of precincts in half “to save money.” The Democrats opposed, and Husted sided with the Republicans. On Tuesday voting day nobody will know where their precinct is. Every ballot will be provisional. This should be interesting.
Roger Moore
@sab:
Aren’t they required to send you a sample ballot that includes the location of your polling place? I always get one of those here in California, and it’s very handy.
japa21
@Steve: Here in Chicago, we consider Ohio to be an Eastern state trying to upgrade its social standing by considering itself to be Midwestern.
CarolDuhart2
I love early voting. The lines are shorter, and a couple of times there wasn’t really a line at all-I was in and out pretty quickly. And since there wasn’t a big rush, I could take my time and read my ballot carefully, making sure I didn’t miss anyone.
I think a lot of the poll workers really like it too. Spreads out the workload, meaning that there are fewer long overnight counts or having to shoo people away at the end of voting hours on Election Day.
We really should have reformed our voting a long time ago anyway to cover several days. A single Election Day on Tuesday made sense back in the days when most men worked on the farm and could take a whole day off to vote on a cold day after Harvest time. There was a lot fewer people and a lot fewer who were eligible to vote, too. Add commuting and child care, and I’m surprised we can even try to crowd it into one day at all. And everybody works on Tuesdays now.
sab
@Roger Moore:
They don’t send sample ballots in Ohio. The newspapers usually print one a couple of days before the election (too late for early voting.) Otherwise we have to go online, or go to the BOE office.
I used to live in California and I loved those sample ballots. In Ohio the powers that be apparently prefer that only party activists know what’s on the ballot ahead of time.
Amy
As I understand it, congregations in black churches in Ohio had the practice of going off to vote together right after church service.
That’s why the Republicans did away with those last few days of early voting.
feebog
Know what else we have in California? Absentee ballots on demand. About 40% of Californians ask for Absentee ballots. The percentage of return varies with the type of election (local, statewide, presidential). We have any number of people who simply fill out their absentee ballots and then drop them off at the polling site on election day. And you can drop them off at any site. Or mail them ahead of time. It works well, takes a lot of pressure of the poll workers, and increases the number of people voting.
kay
@tamied:
The way I read the PA law, it’s only free if you are getting the card to vote. Since the lady had a card prior to the ID law, I think she has to pay.
My daughter called last night with an ID question (she’s now a PA resident).
She was probably sorry she asked. I started firing questions at her: “Rose! Focus! This is important!”
I get a little nuts on this subject. Anyway now she’s all legal-like and should be good to go :)
Sal
I have to say, this is one that slipped by me. Mitt vs. the Dark Knight…
http://www.mediaite.com/online/rush-limbaugh-do-you-think-that-it-is-accidental-that-the-new-batman-villain-is-named-bane/
burnspbesq
Not to be all Johnny Buzzkill, but I do hope that the folks behind this litigation thought through the standing issues and got the right plaintiff. It would be just like some dickish Republican-appointed judge to dismiss without leave to amend.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@kay: I *think* PA is kind of complicated. Though they all are now, of course, thanks to ALEC. Thank you for staying on this topic Kay.
Steve
@burnspbesq: The plaintiffs are Obama for America, Democratic National Committee, and Ohio Democratic Party. Do you think they have a standing problem?
kay
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
How are you, healthwise? You’re here commenting, so that’s a good sign.
rikyrah
thanks for this update, kay
Mnemosyne
@feebog:
I noticed on my last sample ballot that they don’t even call it an absentee ballot anymore. I think it’s just called “Vote By Mail.”
Chewbackhair
@tamied:
I thought about that old lady when I had to show a photo ID when I bought my Sudafed today.
I think the same thing happened when somebody in Illinois wanted to buy some Drano for a sink clog- and was asked for a photo ID.
I tried to see Obama last year at Ohio State– they said I needed a photo ID to pass security.
Duane
I know very well the precinct that was voting till 4 AM…. Gambier in knox county….home of Kenyon College….. and not to defend Blackwell but the lack of voting machines was due to incompetence of the local BOE….. over 1600 registered voters and 2 voting machines…. insane…. of course this was because Knox county had some obsolete and outdated voting machines….and were left with just enough to have 2 at ever precinct in the county…. It was a disaster to say the least…. I was there till about 2 AM then i went home….it was hard to believe that here we were still voting in Ohio with the polls closed in Hawaii
Nemesis
gop strateregy remains intact. Keep the race close, within the MOE, and steal it with vote suppression in FL and OH.
Palli
@arguingwithsignposts:
Yes, a universal presidential ballot!