Ohio: A Win for Early Voting—and Democrats—in Ohio | The Atlantic

It’s been a rough few week for voting-rights advocates, who have seen a judge reject a challenge to North Carolina’s strict voting law and seen Missouri legislators successfully place a ballot referendum that would amend the state constitution to require photo ID. But they got a win in Ohio today, where a judge in Columbus ruled that a recent law that eliminated a week in which citizens could both register and vote early was unconstitutional. Judge Michael Watson found that the change would disparately impact minority voters, and that the law violated both the 14th Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Ohio: Judge: No conspiracy in Libertarians’ bump from Ohio ballot | Associated Press

A federal judge delivered a legal victory Friday to Ohio’s elections chief and a voter sued by Libertarians for their roles in disqualifying the party’s gubernatorial candidate from 2014 fall ballots. A lawyer for the Libertarian Party of Ohio said the party plans to appeal. The party sued Secretary of State Jon Husted and voter Greg Felsoci, alleging they were part of a scheme to selectively enforce Ohio election law to help Republican Gov. John Kasich’s re-election bid. At the time, the third-party gubernatorial candidacy of Libertarian Charlie Earl was seen as potentially drawing votes from Kasich, who later easily won re-election. The lawsuit alleged that improperly singling out the party’s candidates violates the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause.

Ohio: Judge says blind denied voting access but don’t expect changes for November | The Columbus Dispatch

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that blind Ohioans have been denied “meaningful access” to the state’s absentee voting system. However, U.S. District Judge George C. Smith said changes can’t be made prior to the fall election without having to “fundamentally alter Ohio’s voting system as a whole.” Disability Rights Ohio filed a lawsuit in December in federal court alleging Secretary of State Jon Husted discriminated against blind voters by denying them access to a suitable, private absentee voting system, and to his state website. The agency represents three blind residents of Columbus, Cincinnati and Oberlin, Ohio, and the National Federation of the Blind. The suit is based on claimed violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Ohio: Ohioans could register to vote online, but not until 2017 | The Columbus Dispatch

The ability to register to vote online won’t be available to Ohio voters until next year, after House Republicans altered a bill that supporters hoped would provide the option immediately. Secretary of State Jon Husted, a key supporter of the bill, would operate the online registration system and has said repeatedly that his office is ready to implement it now, as soon as lawmakers pass the bill. But with a presidential race in November, House Republicans decided to wait until 2017 before giving Ohioans the option of online registration, as is already available in 31 states. “We want to ensure the experience is safe, smooth and accurate,” said Rep. Dorothy Pelanda, R-Marysville. Democrats on the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, including Rep. Mike Curtin, D-Marble Cliff, objected to the change.

Ohio: Final arguments being made in dispute over ballots in Ohio | Akron Beacon Journal

Ohio’s elections chief and advocates for the homeless are making their final arguments in a federal lawsuit that could affect how thousands of ballots are cast and counted in the swing state. The advocates, along with the Ohio Democratic Party, are suing Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted over changes made in 2014 to requirements for absentee or provisional ballots. The two sides reiterated their arguments and findings in court briefs last week and are expected to submit their final filings with the court on Thursday. The case would then be left to the judge to decide. … At issue are the laws and procedures for absentee and provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are those cast when a voter’s identity or registration is in question, among other reasons. The voter’s eligibility is verified later.

Ohio: Online voter registration could be delayed until 2017 | The Columbus Dispatch

House Republicans may give Ohioans the convenience of registering to vote online – but perhaps not until after this swing state votes for president. A bill to have Ohio join at least 26 other states with online voter registration has been sitting in the House for nearly a year, after passing the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill is scheduled to be heard again Wednesday, along with potential amendments. Multiple sources said one of those amendments is likely to delay online registration until 2017, so it cannot be used by those who want to vote this November. Secretary of State Jon Husted, a key supporter of the bill, would operate the online registration system and has said repeatedly that his office is ready now, as soon as lawmakers pass the bill.

Ohio: GOP: Require cash for longer vote hours | Cincinnati Enquirer

Republican lawmakers want anyone who goes to court to keep polls open longer on Election Day to hand over enough cash to cover the cost. Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz is proposing a change in state law that would require a cash bond, potentially worth thousands of dollars, before a judge could order polls to stay open past the scheduled closing time. Seitz, who already has nine Republican co-sponsors for his bill, said the goal is to prevent what he considers frivolous, last-minute court challenges that keep polls open late and create additional costs for taxpayers. The law also would set a higher standard for proving the need for longer hours and would allow for the immediate appeal of any ruling that extends poll hours. “There will always be some excuse that some activist judge can seize upon,” said Seitz, of Green Township. “Is this intended to retard these last-minute interventions? Yes, it is.”

Ohio: Once again, panel takes no action on redistricting | The Columbus Dispatch

A panel of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission met again Thursday to consider recommending how to alter the congressional redistricting process, which in its current form allows for rampant partisan gerrymandering. But, in what has become a familiar scene for redistricting reform supporters, the panel again decided not to take action on recommending changes to the process for the legislature to consider. The committee meets again on May 12. Fred Mills, chairman of the panel, said redistricting will be on the agenda and a vote will be scheduled. “Whether or not we’ll actually take a vote is another thing,” he said. The redistricting issue was pulled from the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch Committee in February and placed into a four-person subcommittee, which was supposed to have a recommendation ready within six weeks. That was 10 weeks ago.

Ohio: Absentee ballot fix could impact general election after missing Summit County in the primary | Akron Beacon Journal

Instead of automatically tossing out more than 1,000 absentee ballots in March, innovation and a last-minute directive from state officials allowed Cleveland poll workers to count dozens of votes. After a spike last fall in absentee ballots lacking postmarks, state and county election officials began exploring ways to reduce the number of mail-in ballots that arrive after the election without proof that they were mailed out on time. Ballots that arrive within 10 days of an election may be counted if mailed before the election. The issue, locally, was big. Nearly 900 late ballots in Summit County lacked the sufficient postmark to determine the time of mailing. All were discounted, automatically. Cuyahoga County, which also saw a surge in troublesome ballots, took the lead in researching an alternative solution.

Ohio: Husted: Judge wrong to keep polls open after bridge crash | Cincinnati Enquirer

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted went to court Monday to overturn a judge’s order last month that kept polls open an extra hour because of a traffic jam. It’s too late to do anything about that March 15 order, but Husted wants to keep it from happening again, especially in the presidential election this fall. The “notice of appeal” filed Monday in U.S. District Court doesn’t make any legal arguments. It is, however, a first step toward a full-blown appeal of the controversial order issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott as polls were closing March 15. “We can’t change it at this point,” Husted spokesman Josh Eck said of Dlott’s order. “Our appeal is based on principle. We don’t want this to be a precedent going forward, that this kind of order is acceptable.”

Ohio: ACLU sues Secretary of State Jon Husted over removing voters from the rolls | Cleveland Plain Dealer

A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday is suing Ohio Secretary of State over how state officials remove inactive voters from the rolls. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of Ohio A. Phillip Randolph Institute and Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, argues people are removed from Ohio voter rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also called the “Motor Voter” law. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said the state manages its voter rolls in compliance with both federal and state laws and has been complying a 2012 settlement requiring voter rolls to be scrutinized and maintained. “This lawsuit is politically motivated, election-year politics, is a waste of taxpayer dollars, and opens the door for voter fraud in Ohio,” Husted said in a statement.

Ohio: New Lawsuit Challenges Alleged Voter Purge In Ohio | TPM

Voting rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging what they described as a massive voter purge in Ohio. The lawsuit accuses the state of violating the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 — also known as the “Motor Voter” law — by taking tens of thousand of voters off the registration rolls because they did not participate in past elections. “As a result of these violations, numerous Ohioans have been disenfranchised in recent elections, and many more face the threat of disenfranchisement in the 2016 Presidential Election and future elections,” the complaint said. The lawsuit is being brought by the progressive public policy organization Demos and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, who are representing a state chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, an African-American labor group, and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. It was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio.

Ohio: Now that lying isn’t against Ohio campaign laws, prepare for more ‘outrageous’ claims | The Columbus Dispatch

Did Sen. Larry Obhof really vote to fund Obamacare in Ohio? Did his Republican primary opponent, anti-abortion activist Janet Folger Porter, refuse to support personhood status for unborn crime victims? Each candidate accused the other of lying. But unlike in past elections, neither could take such complaints before the Ohio Elections Commission for a determination of whether the ads were false — a ruling that could have gained media attention and been used in subsequent advertising. The federal courts have struck down Ohio’s law prohibiting lying in campaigns. Now, Ohioans who were already accustomed to negative campaigning can brace themselves for what comes next, now that the reins are off. “Most of my clients want to tell the truth,” said attorney Donald Brey, who has represented Republicans in a multitude of cases before the Ohio Elections Commission. “But if a client says, ‘I want to lie through my teeth, and as long as I don’t defame anybody, can I get away with it?’ The answer is, unless you’re running for judge, yes.”

Ohio: Franklin County official: Some 2014 ballots wrongly rejected | The Columbus Dispatch

Franklin County tossed out about a dozen voters’ ballots that should have been counted, elections board Director William Anthony testified in a federal trial in Columbus that could change how Ohio conducts its elections. Anthony’s concession that valid 2014 votes were not tabulated is merely the tip of the iceberg of problems plaguing Ohio’s vote-counting procedures since the GOP-dominated legislature passed and Gov. John Kasich signed a pair of laws that year dealing with absentee and provisional ballots, the groups pressing the federal lawsuit contend. During an extended period on the witness stand this week, Anthony, who also is chairman of the county Democratic Party, was shown ballot after ballot that he acknowledged should have at least been further examined by county elections officials before being cast aside.

Ohio: Election laws under scrutiny as focus shifts to fall | Associated Press

Some rules for Ohio voters are under legal scrutiny as the focus starts shifting toward the fall election. The perennial presidential battleground is no stranger to election-law challenges. Voting disputes in Ohio seem to appear at the rate of political TV ads as Election Day nears. “There are always new issues that arise as the election approaches, especially in Ohio, given that we’re a perpetual swing state,” said Dan Tokaji, an Ohio State University law professor. … A federal judge began hearing testimony Wednesday over changes to requirements for absentee and provisional ballot. Advocates for Ohio’s homeless and the state’s Democratic Party claim the 2014 changes create new hurdles for voters, particularly minorities and Democratic-leaning voters. Among other arguments, they allege that numerous ballots are being tossed because of paperwork errors. They say voters lack an opportunity to cure the problems, in violation of their 14th Amendment rights.

Ohio: Cleveland One Step Ahead of Trump’s Convention Riots Prediction | Bloomberg

Cleveland will be ready should Donald Trump’s prediction come true of riots at the Republican National Convention if he’s denied the presidential nomination, security officials say. Though the Ohio city won’t say whether Trump’s remarks have it reconsidering security for the July 18-21 gathering, preparations for possible unrest are well under way. The convention is designated a national special-security event, like Pope Francis’s visit last year and the Democrats’ nominating meeting in Philadelphia in July. “It’s going to be a secure event,” said Kevin Dye, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, the lead agency coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement.

Ohio: Traffic accident leads to voting snarl | Cincinnati Enquirer

Ohio’s primary went smoothly most of the day Tuesday, but a late wrinkle in southwest Ohio caused some last-minute chaos. A federal judge ordered polls in four southwest Ohio counties to stay open an extra hour because of a major traffic accident on I-275, which shut down the highway and stranded thousands of motorists for much of the early evening. The problem, elections officials say, is that the order came after polls already had closed at 7:30 p.m. U,S. District Judge Susan Dlott called Secretary of State Jon Husted about her concerns shortly after 7:30 and then issued her written order to keep the polls open at 8:13 p.m., Husted’s spokesman said. “A judicial order … after the polls closed makes it hard to keep the polls open,” said Alex Triantafilou, Hamilton County’s GOP chairman and a member of the county’s board of elections.

Ohio: Judge Lets 17-Year-Olds Vote in Primary in Sanders Win | Bloomberg

Ohio must let 17-year-olds vote in the state’s March 15 primary, if they turn 18 by Election Day, a judge ruled in a boost to Bernie Sanders. Sanders’s surprise win over Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary this week was driven in part by his popularity with younger voters, many of whom are attracted to his call for an economic revolution against the wealthy elite. Sanders got the support of 81 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds in the Michigan primary, according to CNN’s exit polls. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, reinterpreted a decades-old law by describing the primary as an election of delegates, rather than a nomination. Ohio doesn’t let voters under 18 directly elect people, Husted said. That was a misinterpretation of the law, Franklin County Court Judge Richard A. Frye said in a ruling Friday.

Ohio: 17-year-olds sue over voting rights | Toledo Blade

Nine 17-year-olds, including one from Toledo, sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted Tuesday over his office’s refusal to allow them to vote in the presidential race in next week’s primary election. The lawsuit contends the state’s chief elections officer, a Republican, has misinterpreted state law allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the time of the November general election. Mr. Husted determined that because voters are electing convention delegates rather than nominating candidates in the primary, 17-year-olds cannot vote in the presidential race. They can vote in U.S. Senate, state legislative, judicial, and other races on the same ballot in which candidates are nominated, but not elected at this stage.

Ohio: Republican voters get 2 votes for president, only 1 counts | Associated Press

Every Republican primary voter in Ohio will have two opportunities to vote for president, in a ballot twist that only escalates the potential confusion caused by the party’s large and fractious field of candidates. GOP ballots for the March 15 primary feature two boxes for president: one for designating an at-large presidential delegate and one for designating a district delegate. It’s a carry-over from a time when Ohio’s Republican vote was divided proportionally, rather than in the winner-take-all fashion being used in 2016. The two boxes raise obvious questions: Do voters get two votes? Can conflicted voters split their vote, or do votes for two candidates cancel each other out? If only one of the two boxes is filled in, does the person’s vote still count? Ohio never changed a requirement that both boxes be listed, and the secretary of state’s office says both will also tallied. But the Ohio Republican Party says only one will count.

Ohio: Appeals court strikes down ban on campaign lying | The Columbus Dispatch

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati Wednesday may have delivered the death knell to a 42-year Ohio election law which prohibited candidates or independent political organizations from lying in their campaigns. In a unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2014 decision by U.S. District Judge Timothy Black that the law violated political free speech guaranteed by the Constitution. In its 12-page ruling, the court of appeals concluded “Ohio’s political false-statements laws target speech at the core of First Amendment protections — political speech.”

Ohio: Proposed constitutional amendment would require automatic voter registration tied to driver’s l Twinsburg Bulletin

A group has submitted initial petition language to the attorney general’s office for a proposed constitutional amendment requiring automatic voter registration when Ohioans apply for or renew their driver’s licenses. The Ohio Motor Voter Automatic Registration amendment would register new voters and update existing ones, unless residents opt out in writing. A summary of the amendment notes that bureaus of motor vehicles already are required to ask whether patrons want to register to vote or change their voter status. The amendment would make the registrations mandatory.

Ohio: Aging Miami County voting machines raise concerns | Dayton Daily News

Voting machines in Miami County have “a myriad of problems,” are near the end of their life and there are no guarantees that issues with them won’t occur during the March primary election, according to a county employee who has worked years with the equipment. Concerns about the voting machines come almost two months after the elections’ office voter registration system started developing problems just before Christmas. Phil Mote a seasonal employee who heads up the logic and accuracy testing of each voting machine, said despite his concerns, the machines are ready to go for the March 15 primary election. Early in-person voting begins Wednesday. “I feel confident we are going to put on a good election,” he said.

Ohio: Judges’ party affiliation can be left off general election ballots | Toledo Blade

Ohio is on sound constitutional ground in placing judicial candidates on general election ballots without party labels, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The ruling from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dealt a blow to the Ohio Democratic Party and labor organizations that sought to do away with the state’s system of having judicial candidates run with their party affiliation in the primary election, but without it in the general election. “While the plaintiffs argue that Ohio’s electoral system burdens their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, the burden is minimal and is outweighed by Ohio’s interest in minimizing partisanship in judicial elections,” wrote Judge John M. Rogers on behalf of a panel of two judges appointed by Republican presidents and one Democratic appointee.

Ohio: 4,100 ballots tossed in 2014-15 for technical errors, lawsuit says | Cleveland Plain Dealer

Nearly 12 percent of absentee and provisional ballots rejected by Ohio elections boards in 2014 and 2015 general elections were bounced for technical issues, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday. Those technical issues — names that don’t exactly match voter records, missing or incorrect dates of birth, improper voter ID or conflicts in voters’ addresses — are the target of a lawsuit. The suit claims that state rules enacted in 2014 violate constitutional rights and disproportionately hurt African-American, Latino and poor voters. In addition to identifying 4,105 ballots disqualified for technical errors, data collected by the plaintiffs show that the rate of disqualification varies widely from county to county. In the 10 largest counties, that rate was as low as 1 percent and as high as 24.8 percent. Unless the boards of elections are able to contact a voter to get a ballot corrected, the voter’s ballot may not be counted and the voter may never know.

Ohio: State heads into presidential primary with unresolved ballot problems | Akron Beacon Journal

For nearly two years, election officials in Northeast Ohio have known that the state’s failure to keep pace with modernization at the U.S. Post Office could result in absentee ballots getting tossed, even if voters followed the rules perfectly. Beacon Journal interviews last week revealed that officials in at least Summit, Stark and Portage counties were aware in 2014 that a problem loomed as the U.S. Postal Service increasingly used bar codes to process mail and did not print the time and date across the postage stamp. State law continues to require an old-fashioned postmark, and as a result last year, nearly 1,800 absentee ballots were rejected in Summit and Cuyahoga counties alone. Now, with Ohioans only weeks away from voting in a highly charged presidential primary — and their governor among the contenders — the issue remains unresolved and there is no guarantee that ballots dropped in the mailbox will get counted.

Ohio: Christian group, tea party activists urge delay in online voter registration | The Columbus Dispatch

If Ohio is going to implement online voter registration, it should be delayed until after the presidential election, the leader of a coalition that includes a religious group and tea party activists told lawmakers Tuesday. The website could be hacked, and thus it’s a poor decision to try to implement online voter registration during a high-volume, high-stakes presidential election, Christopher Long, president of the Ohio Christian Alliance, told a House committee. But lawmakers in both parties pushed back against his concerns. Rep. Louis “Bill” Blessing, R-Cincinnati, questioned if any other states have encountered security issues with their online systems.

Ohio: Cuyahoga County elections officials find 250 ballots should have counted as plan to fix broken voting system stalls | Akron Beacon Journal

Elections officials in Cuyahoga County have discovered that 250 invalidated votes should have counted in Ohio’s last statewide election. But the discovery, which other counties can duplicate for about $500, will not change how Ohio runs the upcoming presidential election without action from state leaders. In a post-election analysis, Sean Webster of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reviewed roughly 1,500 absentee ballots that arrived after the polls closed on Nov. 2. About 900 lacked postmarks, which would clearly state when the ballots were mailed. Another 563 were postmarked too late. All were tossed out. Statewide, about half of 7,244 late-arriving ballots lacked postmarks. “Proportionally,” Webster said of the same issue in Summit County, “we had significantly fewer ballots that needed thrown out. And we think that’s because we use a smaller envelope.”

Ohio: Will your mail-in vote count in the presidential primary? | Cleveland Plain Dealer

With presidential primary elections two months away, the U.S. Postal Service has yet to explain why nearly 9 percent of Summit County mail-in ballots were missing postmarks and had to be thrown out. And no one has come up with a solution for the future. The unusually high number of botched ballots led the Summit Board of Elections to subpoena postmasters to a hearing last month. While postal officials skipped the hearing, Ohio Secretary of State John Husted’s office has since taken up the issue statewide. During the last presidential election in 2012, more than one-third of Ohio voters mailed their ballots.

Ohio: Husted says he’s intent on finding fix to absentee-ballot postmark issues | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said he isn’t sure the U.S. Postal Service has a solution to the postmark issues that plagued absentee ballots during last year’s general election. Speaking at the Ohio Association of Election Officials Convention at the Hilton Downtown Columbus on Wednesday, he said it was partially up to election workers to figure out a solution to the problem. “We don’t need to look at blame. We need to look at a way forward,” Husted said. Ohio voter law allows absentee ballots to be counted if their postmark date falls before Election Day, even if the ballots don’t arrive until after. In November, 1,523 ballots were not counted because the U.S. Post Office did not postmark them. “My priority is to ensure voters who follow the law that their votes will be counted,” said Husted, a Republican.