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.”
The notice includes sworn statements from several state and local election officials about the chaos they say occurred following Dlott’s order, which applied to Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties.
Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Damschroder said he received a voicemail from someone Dlott’s office about one minute before polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Local election officials, including those in Hamilton County, said they didn’t find out about the order until almost a half-hour later.
Full Article: Husted: Judge wrong to keep polls open after bridge crash.