Hamilton County leaders can move elections operations to Mount Airy, but the issue about where to put early voting remains unsettled in the wake of Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s tie-breaking vote on the matter. The decisions have national implications. Ohio – and Hamilton County in particular – are key battlegrounds in presidential elections, and how elections are conducted here can affect whose votes get counted. In the 2012 presidential election, more than 24,000 people voted early, in-person, at the Downtown location. “They need to find a place everyone can live with,” Husted told the Enquirer. “I’m not trying to tell anyone in Hamilton County where their early voting should be.” Husted added: “Honestly, the current location is not the best location.”
Angela Beamon, a Democrat who is running for Eric Kearney’s state senate seat, said she doesn’t want it moved and on Monday will file a formal injunction against Husted after his tie-breaking vote. “We view this as an attempt to further silence the voice of voters,” Beamon said Friday night outside of the Board of Elections Downtown. “We have already experienced in the past few years a decline in voter turnout and this will add to that decrease.”
Moving the Board of Elections out of Downtown will hurt voter turnout, she claims. “Moving the Board of Elections is an absolute egregious act,” Beamon said. “We will not be silent. We will not allow them to continue to infringe our voting rights. “True democracy must be restored.”
Full Article: Husted: BOE can move, but locals choose early voting site | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com.