Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted was one of the biggest opponents of early voting in the months leading up to the 2012. He fought hard to have early voting limited, especially the three-day period leading up to election day–a time when Democratic-leaning voters are more likely to head to the polls. Not long after his election, Husted began talking about the importance of election uniformity, a mantra he repeated later as he fought to stop early voting on the Friday before election day. If his management of the coming primary election is any indication, Husted no longer appears to be concerned about election uniformity.
There was little uniformity across Ohio in early voting access on the three-days leading up to the May 7 primary election. As State Rep. Kathleen Clyde pointed out in a letter to Husted this past week, at least five counties had no plans to have any early voting on Monday. Clyde argued Husted’s failure to direct those counties to be open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday was in violation of the 6th Circuit Appeals Court decision that mandated early voting be restored on the three-day period leading up to Election Day. As of Monday afternoon, she had not heard back from Husted.
Ultimately Montgomery County decided offer voting on the Monday before the election, but another four counties did not, and Husted made no apparent efforts to direct those counties otherwise.
Full Article: Voting rights: Ohio secretary of state’s early-voting flip flop — MSNBC.