Ohio: Absentee ballot compromise is welcome fix | The Tribune

Amid the furious fireworks of today’s politics, there came a brief, welcome moment of quiet Friday. It was the sound of compromise. As we noted earlier this week, what appeared to be partisan warfare had broken out between Ohio’s chief elections official and the leader of Cuyahoga County government. The issue: whether counties are free to mail unsolicited applications for absentee ballots to their residents if other counties can’t afford to do so.

Yes, Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald said — it is good public service. No, Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said — it is unfair. As their argument rolled on, they threw wilder and wilder rhetorical punches. Some Cuyahoga votes might not be counted! The U.S. Department of Justice might intervene!

Ohio: County, state officials reach resolution in Ohio battle over absentee ballot applications | The Republic

Ohio will mail absentee ballot request forms to voters in all counties ahead of the 2012 presidential election, settling a dispute between the state’s top election official and the leader of the state’s largest county.

As part of the agreement announced Friday, Cuyahoga County officials agreed not to send out unsolicited mailings for absentee ballots for this year’s general election.

Cuyahoga County officials in Cleveland had threatened to defy Secretary of State Jon Husted’s order barring county elections boards from mailing the unsolicited applications. The county’s council earlier in the week authorized mailings to all registered voters. That led to a meeting Thursday in Columbus where Husted, a Republican, and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, a Democrat, worked out the compromise.

Ohio: Cuyahoga County: By-mail ballot battle still brewing | wkyc.com

The war of words over the future of mass-mailed ballot applications in Cuyahoga County continues. On his personal blog, State Auditor Dave Yost has a post called “The Wreck of the Edward FitzGerald.” He is saber-rattling over Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerld’s plan to continue mass mailing ballot applications to all registered voters in Cuyahoga County.

Secretary of State Jon Husted banned such mailing by boards of elections because most could not afford them and he insisted on uniformity of election procedures. FitzGerald countered with a plan to have the county, not the election board, pay for and handle the mailings. That cost is likely to be about $330,000. After lots of angry words, Husted said he would not block FitzGerald’s plan.

But now Auditor Yost says he told FitzGerald, “if (you) spend money without any authority to do so, next years’ (audit) finding could include a large finding for recovery.”

Ohio: Rep. Kucinich asks U.S. Attorney to investigate Ohio over Cuyahoga ballot controversy | WEWS

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has asked federal authorities to intervene on behalf of Cuyahoga County voters. Kucinich sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Monday asking U.S. attorneys to “use all the investigative and Prosecutorial power” of their office to look at the state’s ban on unsolicited absentee ballots.

Ohio Secretary of State John Husted recently banned from sending unsolicited absentee ballot counties applications to voters. Cuyahoga County ballot Executive Ed Fitzgerald plans to continue the practice of sending every registered voter in absentee.

Ohio: Ed FitzGerald, Jon Husted spar over mailing voter forms | cleveland.com

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald wants the county’s congressional delegation to help stop Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted from banning the Board of Elections from processing mail-in absentee voter applications.
Husted said Friday he is considering prohibiting Cuyahoga County’s Board of Elections from processing applications from people who wish to vote by mail if FitzGerald’s administration goes forward with a plan to mail applications to all active registered voters in the county.

Fitzgerald says the secretary of state’s remarks raise issues about voters’ rights and voter suppression that merit a review by the U.S. Department of Justice. He said his office will forward a transcript of Husted’s remarks to members of the delegation so they can help raise the issue.

Voting Blogs: Cuyahoga Dispute Raises Question: Who’s in Charge of Elections? | PEEA

A fascinating battle is shaping up in Cuyahoga County, OH where County Executive Ed FitzGerald is preparing to ask the County Board to defy a recent directive by Secretary of State Jon Husted prohibiting county election offices from mailing out unsolicited absentee ballot applications to voters by having the County use non-election funds to do so.

The substantive issues in this dispute are important – especially given the growing number of voters in Ohio who cast their ballots outside of a traditional polling place – but just as interesting is the tug of war developing between Husted (a Republican) and FitzGerald (a Democrat) about ultimate control over election policy in Cuyahoga County, which is home to the city of Cleveland and its suburbs.

What’s at stake in the Cuyahoga dispute is nothing less than who will have ultimate control of local election policy in Ohio – and maybe elsewhere.

Ohio: Ed FitzGerald says Cuyahoga will fight back | WTAM

Last week, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said he is considering banning the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections from processing applications from individuals who wish to vote by mail, if county government moves forward with a plan to mail unsolicited applications to all its active registered voters.

Today, county Executive Ed FitzGerald said his office is fighting back, and is looking at legal action if Husted makes good on his threat. Fitzgerald said information may be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department. Speaking outside the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections building, FitzGerald accused Husted of threatening voters.

“That comment stepped way over the line,” FitzGerald said today. “The fact is, Jon Husted can’t order the Board of Elections to refuse to allow citizens to vote by mail. For him to suggest that he can creates a real risk of sowing confusion among Cuyahoga County residents about this election.”

Ohio: Cuyahoga County proposes to mail absentee ballots despite election official’s ban | cleveland.com

Cuyahoga County’s executive plans to continue sending absentee ballot applications to all voters, circumventing a ban the state’s top elections official had imposed on boards of election. County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced Thursday that his administration will pay about $330,000 for a mass mailing, if County Council approves the expense Monday. Seven council members, including Republican Mike Gallagher, have already signed on as sponsors.

“The vote-by-mail program which Cuyahoga and other counties across the state were running were working. It was good government,” said FitzGerald, a Democrat. “That’s a principle that is worth going out on a limb for.”

FitzGerald’s solution might be short-lived, though. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said he plans to look for a “legislative fix” that would prevent county governments from paying for the mailings in the future.

Ohio: Ohio program focuses on soldiers’ right to vote | Toledo Blade

When freshman state Rep. Mike Dovilla (R., Berea) requested an absentee ballot in 2007 while deployed in Iraq with the U.S. Navy, his ballot never arrived. “Through no fault of my own and despite a proactive attempt to obtain a ballot, I was disenfranchised in that year’s municipal elections,” he said.

An initiative unveiled Tuesday by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is designed to make that less likely to happen. In the future, a request for an absentee ballot by a member of the armed services will be tracked to ensure the ballot arrives, even if it means the ballot might be completed at the last minute and faxed back to Ohio for counting on Election Day.

Ohio: Secretary of State bans county officials from sending voters unsolicited absentee ballot applications | WJW

Ohio’s top elections chief is banning county officials from sending voters unsolicited absentee ballot applications ahead of Election Day. The move by Secretary of State Jon Husted Monday comes after several county boards of elections recently had tied votes on whether to send out applications.

A spokesman for the Republican says he wanted to provide clear guidance to boards, and issued the directive to the state’s 88 counties in order to have uniformity. Boards in Ohio’s larger, urban counties — those that tend to vote more Democratic — have typically sent unsolicited absentee ballot applications to registered voters. Some also pay the return postage. Ohio’s new elections overhaul bans the practice, though the law faces a potential ballot repeal. It has not yet gone into effect.

Ohio: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections splits on voting-by-mail provision | cleveland.com

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald said Monday that he would like to continue a successful vote-by-mail program — even after the state’s top elections official ordered boards of elections to stop the mass mailings.

FitzGerald said he is reviewing whether the county can pay for a mass-mailing of absentee voter applications that, until now, had been handled by the county’s board of elections. His comments came just as Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted sent a directive that prohibited the boards from sending the applications to all registered voters in a county — a practice Cuyahoga County has done since 2006.

A controversial state law goes into effect in about six weeks that also prevents county boards of elections from paying return postage on the applications and paying postage for the completed ballots. What FitzGerald and other proponents of the vote-by-mail plan are hoping for is that another agency can handle the mailings.

Ohio: Democrats push referendum to end Republican voter law | Politics Extra

Several Democratic candidates and officeholders gathered in front of the Hamilton County Board of Election Tuesday morning to decry House Bill 194, a Republican bill reforming Ohio election law that Democrats say is nothing more  than “voter supression.”

The Democrats said they are part of a statewide push to gather about 232,000 valid voter signatures to place a referendum on the Nov. 2012 ballot. If they succeed by Sept. 29, the law – scheduled to go into effect Sept. 30 – would be put on hold for this election and next year’s presidential election, when Ohio voters would decide whether or not they want to keep the law, which significantly shortens the period of early voting and tells inside poll workers that they are not required to direct voters to the right tables in multi-recinct polling places, among other things.

Voting Blogs: Suddenly, the Voter ID Debate is Unpredictable | PEEA

Over the last several years, the debate about voter ID, especially requirements that voters show photo identification as a condition of casting a ballot, has become so predictable as to seem almost routine.

ID proponents – usually Republicans – argue that the spectre of voter fraud demands safeguards like ID to protect the sanctity of the ballot box, while opponents – usually Democrats – see ID requirements as barriers to the polls and thus vow to fight them in the name of combating disenfranchisement.

Indeed, in recent years the best predictor of whether voter ID would advance in a given state was whether or not Republicans held legislative majorities and the governorship. Recently, however, the headlines have brought new twists that suggest that the voter ID debate is no longer the predictable partisan storyline we have all come to know – if not love.

Ohio: Election law foes OK to resume repeal effort | Connecticut Post

Opponents of Ohio’s new election overhaul were cleared Thursday to proceed with their effort to ask voters to repeal the law, which makes changes such as moving the 2012 presidential primary from March to May in the traditional presidential swing state.

Fair Elections Ohio had wanted to challenge only parts of the law — not the primary switch — but hit a snag earlier this month when Attorney General Mike DeWine ruled against wording the group planned to use to collect signatures needed to make the ballot. Based on DeWine’s ruling, organizers resubmitted their phrasing to challenge the entire bill.

DeWine gave the group his approval on Thursday, and the state’s top elections official also said Fair Elections Ohio had the 1,000 valid signatures it needed to continue with its effort. Opponents must now gather roughly 231,000 signatures by Sept. 29 to get a referendum on the 2012 ballot.

Ohio: Ohio Libertarian Party sues secretary of state, wants parts of election overhaul overturned | AP/The Republic

The Libertarian Party of Ohio is suing the state’s election chief over provisions of a new law that they say will keep them off the ballot.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Columbus, the party says parts of Ohio’s new election law are unconstitutional because they don’t give third parties enough time to collect signatures to get on the 2012 ballot.

Ohio: Ohio Voter ID rule is dead, at least for now – opposition from Husted, Senate stymies House | The Columbus Dispatch

A plan to require Ohioans to show a photo ID before voting is dead. “I think we’ll probably not see it again,” said House Speaker William G. Batchelder after a brief legislative session today. “There’s a limit to the amount of times you want to run your head into a wall, and it makes your ears ring.”

Although the Medina Republican strongly supports the photo-ID requirement, the bill passed by the House is opposed by Secretary of State Jon Husted, a fellow Republican, and the GOP-controlled Senate.

Ohio: Bill edits overhaul of state election laws | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio voters will not have to provide a full nine-digit Social Security number as an identifier, nor would they be able to register to vote online, under a bill headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

Lawmakers are already changing provisions in a recently passed election-overhaul bill that doesn’t take effect until Sept. 30. As part of a deal between House and Senate leaders, the House agreed two weeks ago to approve House Bill 194, the election overhaul, after the Senate agreed to later remove certain objectionable provisions.

Ohio: Lawmakers axe online voter registration plan | Westport News

The Ohio Legislature approved a bill Wednesday that would do away with the parts of a new law that allow Ohioans to register to vote and update their addresses online. The provisions were included in an election overhaul law signed by Gov. John Kasich almost two weeks ago.

Under the sweeping new law, voters must give their full Social Security number when casting a provisional ballot, which they’re given if there are about questions about their identification, voting eligibility or voting precinct. The ballots are later counted if the voters’ information checks out.

The law also requires voters to provide their full nine-digit number when registering to vote, if they choose to use their Social Security number as a way to identify themselves.

Ohio: State OKs paying lawyers in Ohio voting-rights case | Columbus Dispatch

The State Controlling Board approved Secretary of State Jon Husted’s request for more than $332,000 yesterday to pay attorneys’ fees for plaintiffs who sued the state in 2006 over alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The lawsuit, filed by two Cleveland-area residents and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, named then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Barbara E. Riley, then-director of the state’s Department of Job and Family Services, as defendants.

Ohio: House GOP pushes Husted to back photo ID | Columbus Dispatch

Pointing to recent action in Rhode Island, a member of House GOP leadership is calling on Secretary of State Jon Husted to get behind a bill stalled in the Senate that requires voters to show photo ID at the polls.

“It is very encouraging that other states are moving forward on this common-sense concept that will strengthen elections and restore voters’ confidence in the democratic process,” Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, said in a release. “I am disappointed that (Husted) has not supported this legislation despite nationwide bipartisan support from both state legislatures and the public.”

Husted has said he does not favor a strict photo ID bill and has not come out in favor of a softer Senate-amended version either, arguing that he has all the tools he needs to keep Ohio elections secure in a separate election overhaul bill that passed last week. Senate leaders have taken some action on the photo ID bill, House Bill 159, but have not brought it up for a full vote.

Ohio: Hold On Ohio, Rhode Island’s Voter ID Bill Isn’t the Same | Rock the Vote Blog

Today’s Columbus Dispatch suggests that there are efforts to revive the strict photo ID bill in Ohio in a special legislation session next week. Some Republican leaders are trying to push fellow Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has beenopposed to the photo ID legislation, and members of the Ohio Senate to accept the bill. Their rationale is that Rhode Island, which has a Democratic legislature and an independent Governor, passed legislation that implements new voter ID requirements at the polls.

… Let’s be clear: the newly enacted Rhode Island law is different from the Ohio proposal in many important ways.

Ohio: Elections chief suspects voter fraud – Ohio Secretary of State seeks criminal investigation | The Tribune

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wants the attorney general and the Lawrence County Prosecutor to determine if a group of Democrats attempted voter fraud in the 2010 general election. If so, it could mean prison time and a fine for anyone convicted of these crimes.

On Tuesday Husted turned over to Mike DeWine and J.B. Collier the findings of his investigation into the applications of 119 Lawrence County absentee ballots for further review and possible prosecution.

“There was an attempt to violate the election law with the attempt to cast and count fraudulent votes,” Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said in an interview with The Tribune on Tuesday. “If we didn’t believe there were irregularities that amounted to a violation of law we would not have referred it to the attorney general and the county prosecutor.”

Ohio: Ohio is latest focus of voter ID struggle | MSNBC

On Tuesday the Ohio Senate might vote on a bill to require voters to show a form of photo identification when they go to the polls. John McClelland, a spokesman for the state’s Republican Senate caucus, said it’s unclear whether the Senate will take action on the bill before its summer recess. The senators’ immediate focus is on the state’s two-year operating budget, which must be approved by Thursday.

A voter ID bill potentially has big implications since voters in Ohio may decide who becomes president. Since World War II, Ohio has gone with the winner of the presidential election every time but once. The state, which will have 18 electoral votes in next year’s election, was decisive in 2004 and 1976, helping give narrow victories to George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Ohio, a former elections official, argued that the voter ID bill ought to be rejected. “Over the last 50 years, we have broken down barriers to voting,” she said, “We have eliminated literacy tests and poll taxes. We have expanded early voting to accommodate voters that are working longer hours.  We should continue to make voting accessible.  This measure instead takes us backward.”

Editorials: Republican Secretary Of State Criticizes Voter ID Bill Because It ‘Excludes Legally Registered Voters’ Ballots From Counting’ | ThinkProgress

Ever since Ken Blackwell’s oversight of the Buckeye State’s 2004 presidential election resulted in the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters, the Ohio secretary of state has played an outsized role in election administration.

Seven years later, with Republicans in at least 22 states across the country pushing voter ID laws, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) has broken with his party and criticized the effort, which restricts voters’ access to the ballot box.

Ohio: Husted draws line against party over photo IDs at voting booths | The Columbus Dispatch

Secretary of State Jon Husted, a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, was front and center this week in a dispute over photo IDs at voting booths – and his tiff was not with Democrats. Husted drew a line in the sand against his own party by publicly objecting to Republican-backed legislation that would require voters to present a photo identification at the polls.

“I stand for what I believe in,” Husted said in a phone interview with The Dispatch yesterday. “You go out, and you campaign and talk about being fair. If you want to have any credibility, you’ve got to do what you said you would do. I said I’d be fair and even-handed.”

Ohio: ‘Most Restrictive’ Voter ID Law In The Country Loses Support Of Republican Secretary Of State | TPM

The Ohio state Senate was set to consider this week what critics are calling the most restrictive voter identification law in the country. The push for restrictive voter ID measures in the Buckeye state is part of a trend of similar legislation sweeping Republican-controlled legislatures across the country.

But Ohio’s measure is so restrictive — it requires the photo IDs to be issued by the state, so voters couldn’t identify themselves with their full Social Security numbers — that it lost the support of Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted.

“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,” Husted said in a short statement posted on his official website. 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,” Husted said.

Ohio: Secretary of State Husted at odds with GOP lawmakers over photo ID bill | Examiner.com

In a statement Friday afternoon that may earn him his own profile in courage award, new Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted parted ways with many of his former GOP colleagues, who are poised to pass a bill next week that would impose a new standard to vote in Ohio. Democrats and other election experts say it is both unnecessary and a likely violation of federal election law, and that it would leapfrog Ohio over Georgia and Indiana, two states whose voter laws are currently perceived as the harshest ones in the nation.

Husted minced no words on whether he would capitulate to or oppose an attempt by a Republican-led legislature to require an otherwise registered voter to present a valid photo ID before voting. The bill in question, HB 159, raced through the Ohio House and is expected to come to the floor of the Senate next week, where the GOP enjoys a lopsided majority of 23-10.

Yesterday, at a media conference held to discuss other matters, Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich, who won the office last November with only 23.5 percent of registered voters or less than half of half of Ohio’s voting population, told reporters he anticipates signing the bill that would preempt voter fraud, a phenomena Republicans have long claimed is rampant while actual evidence for its practice is slim to none.

Ohio: Go Jon Husted! | Rock the Vote Blog

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’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.”

 

Ohio: Voter ID provision yanked from Ohio bill | Middletown Journal

After discussion with Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Senate Republicans removed a provision in an elections reform bill on Wednesday that would require Ohio voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls.

Husted opposes the voter ID requirement that was inserted into the bill on Tuesday. But the issue lives on in a separate bill that is slated for a hearing and possible vote on Thursday morning.

Requiring photo ID to vote sparked outrage from voting rights groups, unions, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party and others.

Ohio: Republicans add voter-ID provision to elections bill | The Columbus Dispatch

In a surprise move, Republican lawmakers added provisions that would require Ohio voters to present photo identification at the polls to an elections bill that could be approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.

The bill puts them at odds with Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, whose office released a statement condemning the action. And if the bill becomes law, Ohio Democrats will seek legal action to have it ruled unconstitutional.

The Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee is taking up the photo ID provision as a part of a larger elections bill that would move Ohio’s presidential primary from March to May and would reduce the number of days allowed for in-person early voting.