A federal appeals court on Friday sided with President Obama’s reelection campaign and said that if Ohio allows military voters to cast ballots in the three days leading to Election Day, it must extend the same opportunity to all voters. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit said the state had not shown why voting during the Saturday-Sunday-Monday period should be offered to only one group of voters. “While there is a compelling reason to provide more opportunities for military voters to cast their ballots, there is no corresponding satisfactory reason to prevent non-military voters from casting their ballots as well,” wrote Circuit Judge Eric L. Clay. “The public interest . . . favors permitting as many qualified voters to vote as possible,” he added.
But the appeals court ruling could create some confusion. While all must to be allowed if the three-day period is offered, the opinion said that decision could be up to individual Ohio counties. In-person early voting has started in Ohio and was scheduled to end for all but military voters on the Friday before the election. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) said the state would announce Monday whether it intended to appeal the decision. It could ask the full appeals court to reverse the decision, with the Supreme Court as the last resort.
Full Article: Early voting reinstated in Ohio – The Washington Post.