Strange things are afoot in Ohio right now, and Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted is looking like he could be the hero. The elections chief, breaking with the leadership of his party in the General Assembly, just put out a statement blasting the state legislature for trying to impose a rigid photo ID requirement for voting.
… Secretary Husted has been clear in his opposition to a strict photo ID requirement because he recognizes that it doesn’t prevent fraud and makes it harder for legally registered people to vote. He has said that he would not change the current system which allows voters to prove their identities with a photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government document with a current name and address.
His opposition to the photo ID bill came to a boil today as the General Assembly continues to consider the elections bills. Secretary Husted made it clear that he is willing to give up the overall reform package – something he’s been working on for months – over the photo ID issue. Here is Secretary Husted’s full statement:
“I want to be perfectly clear, when I began working with the General Assembly to improve Ohio’s elections system it was never my intent to reject valid votes. I would rather have no bill than one with a rigid photo identification provision that does little to protect against fraud and excludes legally registered voters’ ballots from counting.
“It is in the hands of the General Assembly.”
Strong words. And very important words in this fight. Please share them.
Full Article: Ohio: Go Jon Husted! « Rock the Vote Blog.