Ohio’s elections chief set a longer early voting schedule ahead of the fall election, while vowing Monday to continue appealing a federal judge’s ruling that led to the new times in the swing state. In a Sept. 4 decision, U.S. District Judge Peter Economus blocked an Ohio law trimming early voting and ordered Secretary of State Jon Husted to set an expanded schedule that includes a Sept. 30 start to early voting instead of Oct. 7. The judge also barred Husted from preventing local elections boards from adopting additional early voting hours beyond his order. Husted said that could create a “patchwork” of rules across the state.
“Having a myriad of different rules set just before an election will not only create confusion among the electorate, but more importantly, it simply isn’t fair to treat voters in one county different than voters in another,” Husted said in a Monday statement.
Husted said he has complied with the ruling but must seek to reverse it. He is expected to file a brief with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati contending that all voters should have the same opportunities to vote, no matter where they live.
Full Article: Ohio elections chief issues new early voting hours – Fairfield Citizen.