On Wednesday, Ohio’s secretary of state, John R. Husted (R), declared a uniform early-voting policy, after complaints were heard that certain liberal-leaning areas had less time to vote than some of their conservative counterparts. While this was a necessary decision that should have been made long ago, Ohio, a key swing state, still has a ways to go in ensuring fairness at the polls. In the name of combating the largely imaginary threat of “voter fraud,” Republican legislatures in nine states, including Pennsylvania and Texas, have sought to impose ID requirements that would disproportionately affect groups that typically support Democrats. But voter ID laws aren’t all that could infringe on the franchise. In Ohio, a recent battle over provisional ballots has revealed another kind of restriction, one with a less clear-cut partisan motivation that’s nonetheless decidedly anti-voter.
Provisional ballots are used when there’s some question as to voters’ eligibility or some irregularity that otherwise prevents them from filing regular ballots. For example, unrecorded name changes, an absence from voter rolls or the lack of necessary ID in regions that require it can all trigger a provisional ballot.
Under Ohio law, provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct aren’t counted — even if those ballots were cast by voters following poll workers’ directions. Especially in urban areas, Ohio voters often go to polling places that contain multiple precincts in the same location. On Election Day, that means that poll workers can easily make mistakes and direct voters to the wrong precincts. Those ballots — by one estimate, as many as 14,000 in the last presidential election — don’t count, and through no fault of the voters.
Full Article: Buckeye ballots – The Washington Post.