Thursday, August 09, 2012

More Voting Problems Ahead in Ohio-Again


* Is the Ohio Secretary of State denying you equal access to vote?  According to an article in Esquire magazine:

The Republican party in Ohio isn't even really trying very hard any more to camouflage what they're doing. And, though he's not the worst of them, Husted's right in the middle of that:

Extended hours on nights and weekends that made it easier for nearly 9,000 voters to cast early ballots in the 2008 presidential race at the Hamilton County Board of Elections may not be repeated this year because of Republican opposition. Across Ohio, that is part of a developing pattern in which extra pre-election voting hours may be denied to voters in large urban counties — most of which traditionally vote Democratic — even as extended hours will be available in some smaller counties with a strong Republican slant... A showdown over the extra voting hours is expected at the Hamilton County Board of Elections next week. If the debate plays out as it has in Ohio's other major urban counties, it likely will result in a 2-2 tie vote by board members, with Democrats in favor of extending voting hours and Republicans opposed. That would place the question before Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican who over the past several weeks has consistently sided with GOP elections board members elsewhere in casting tie-breaking votes against extending voting hours during the weeks leading up to the Nov. 6 election...
< Only in cases where boards' tie votes give him a decisive voice, McClellan added, will Husted move to block extra voting hours. The counties where Husted has joined with other Republicans to deny expanded early voting strongly backed then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008, while most of those where the extra hours will stand heavily supported GOP nominee John McCain.


If you live in an Ohio county that went for McCain in 2008, you may have longer voting hours.  Those counties that supported Obama, can have their early voting hours shortened by Republicans and Jon Husted will allow it.


Write to the U.S. Department of Justice, Voting Section (Voting.Section@usdoj.gov), and let them know you want an investigation into why certain Ohio counties are allowed longer voting hours.