Ohio voters can cast ballots in person over an 18-hour period for the final three days before Election Day. Following a federal court order last week, Secretary of State Jon Husted set uniform hours today for in-person absentee voting on the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before Election Day, which this year falls on Nov. 4. Those hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1; 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3. U.S. District Court Judge Peter C. Economus granted a permanent injunction June 11 preventing Husted from restricting or eliminating voting on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before all future elections. The hours Husted had previously set for the governors’ election this fall included hours on the final two Saturdays before Election Day, but none on the final Sunday and Monday.
Economus’ permanent injunction follows the temporary order he issued in 2012. After Republican attempts to restrict early voting, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign filed a lawsuit in 2012, contending it was illegal to allow military personnel and their families, but not others, to vote in the three days before elections.
Economus granted a preliminary injunction restoring the three days for all voters two years ago; when Economus issued the permanent injunction last week he said the hours Husted had previously set for this year were “inconsistent” with the court’s 2012 ruling.
Full Article: New early voting hours set after federal court ruling | The Columbus Dispatch.