Fields reports: "Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Friday rescinded a directive that blocked boards of election from setting in-person early voting hours for the final three days leading up to Election Day."

Cleveland resident casts his vote in 2008. (photo: J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)

Ohio Secretary Backs Down on Early Voting - For Now

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer

09 September 12

hio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Friday rescinded a directive that blocked boards of election from setting in-person early voting hours for the final three days leading up to Election Day.

But the Republican secretary still hopes to forestall a federal court's order that he set hours for voting during that run-up period to Nov. 6, asking to hold off at least until the state's request to appeal is decided.

Husted's action came in response to federal Judge Peter C. Economus, who this week ordered Husted to appear in his courtroom on Sept. 13 to explain why he issued a directive that appears to ignore Economus' recent court ruling.

On Aug. 30, Economus, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, ruled that a new state law -- which would have shut down early voting after 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, until the polls opened on Tuesday, Nov. 6, except for military personnel -- is unconstitutional.

His written opinion added: "This court anticipates that defendant Secretary of State will direct all Ohio elections boards to maintain a specific, consistent schedule on those three days."

Instead, Husted issued a directive telling the boards to do nothing for the time being.

The lawsuit was brought by Democratic President Barack Obama's campaign and named Husted as a defendant. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, immediately announced that Ohio would appeal.

Husted responded to Economus' order for him to appear in court by dropping his directive that barred the 88 local boards of election from setting voting hours Nov. 3 through Nov. 5. Instead, the secretary asked Economus to issue a stay of his ruling while the state seeks to appeal.

"The secretary would never intentionally contravene an order issued by the federal district court or any other court -- and this case is no exception. Therefore, the secretary has today rescinded," reads a response to the court filed by Husted's attorneys.

"The secretary respectfully requests that this court stay the order pending appeal," it reads.

By asking for a stay of the ruling until the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether to hear the case, Husted hopes to avoid having to set the voting hours for those final three days until after the appeal is resolved.

Separately, Husted has already imposed a directive that sets hours for the rest of in-person early voting, which starts on Oct. 2, placing the hours from Mondays through Fridays -- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first three weeks and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the final two weeks -- with no weekend voting.

But Ohio has always set more lenient hours for military personnel and their families. The law in question would have allowed in-person early voting over those final three days for them, but no one else.

Economus did not alter the rules for the military members and their families but said that it was wrong to not give every other registered Ohio voter the same opportunities for voting.

The ruling was considered a victory for Democrats who are believed to have been the beneficiaries of a large number of in-person early voters in the final weekend in Democrat-rich counties, such as Cuyahoga, before the 2008 election, helping Obama win Ohio and the White House.

DeWine has said that he is appealing to fight for Ohio's rights to set its own laws.

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+10 # TrueAmericanPatriot 2012-09-09 16:03

JAIL HUSTED NOW!!!! Lock up DeWine while you're at it!!! Defiant until the last you blasted CRIMINALS!!!

OBAMA-BIDEN 2012 IN SPITE OF YOUR LAWLESS EFFORTS TO STEAL THE ELECTION; WE THE PEOPLE WON'T STAND FOR IT!!!!

+10 # Regina 2012-09-09 20:05

Ohio is not alone. Every state with a Republican governor is a party to this conspiracy to steal the presidency -- they tasted that triumph in 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio), and think they're entitled to that unconstitutiona l precedent. We had better disabuse them, once and for all, come November 6.

+8 # Sandy G 2012-09-10 03:50

Ohio, in which I was 'forced' to live for two years near the end of the Nixon years, has always struck me as a state overly populated with 'politico-relig ious' fanatics, is one of the several states appearing in recent news-articles covering the Oh-So-Slyly attempt to subvert the enfranchisement of those of its voters who are most likely to 'vote for the wrong candidates (Democrats), The stratagem in Ohio is similar in intent to those enacted in several other 'swing-states' (Va, Pa, Tx) where similar laws have been passed recently to assure the election of R-R in November. In all cases, these laws are nothing but a patently obvious attempt to steal yet another election, just as Kathleen Harris did in Fl in 2000. Today's 'excuse' (prevention of Voter Fraud) is as big and smelly a Red Herring as the Republicans have ever attempted to use, and American voters should not allow it to happen. It is no surprise to learn that the congenitally-af flicted, Michael DeWhine, has already vowed to'fight to protect the law. It is, after all, TREASON in disguise.

+1 # genierae 2012-09-10 06:18

On this Ohio morning, I read in my local Republican newspaper, an article interviewing citizens about their views concerning which presidential candidate supports the military the most. To a person, these people were shamefully uninformed. Apparently all of them were unaware that President Obama had done many good things for soldiers, and Michelle Obama has devoted a large amount of her time to military families. The reporter who interviewed them was evidently a mute, she made no effort to enlighten them. This has been going on here for decades, and though many of us progressives do all we can to wake these sleepwalkers up, it has very little affect.

+1 # wwway 2012-09-10 07:08

To defeat Tom Dashel in South Dakota in 2004, Republicans used the law and intimidation and strong arm tacticts to discourage the Native American vote. I can list the tacticts. They worked.
When we were visiting Yellowstone in 2006 a couple were were strangers to us approached us because of our liberal bumper stickers. They said they had done some pole watching in Ohio during the 2004 election and were appauled at conservative intimidation at the polls.
Clearly, any party attempting to suppress the vote mocks the democratic process and calls into question their values.
On the note Genierae made about how uninformed Republicans in Ohio are. I went to a class reunion in CA and found the same thing. My brother went to a family reunion in Virginia and found the same thing. These people made up their minds to be Republican but have never ever paid attention to what their party is doing or practiced any critical thinking. As my friend from South Dakota said, "Republicans are the party of the dumb and the mean."

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