The Law According To Moses:
The Ballot, Plus 3 Days Federal Court Orders Early Voting Restored
By Ambrose Moses, III
OhioMBE – June 15, 2014
A federal judge issued a decision on Wednesday, ordering Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to restore early, in-person voting on the three days before Election Day. Secretary Husted released a statement saying he will follow the court order.
In May, the Democratic National Committee and Ohio Democratic Party asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to make permanent a 2012 ruling that county boards of election must allow early, in-person voting on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day.
U.S. District Court Judge Peter C. Economus ordered Secretary Husted to set business hours for the three days prior to Election Day “to preserve the right of all Ohio voters to cast his or her vote with said hours to be uniform throughout the State and suitable to the needs of the particular election in question.”
The Obama Campaign sued Husted and the state of Ohio in 2012, alleging the state’s change in the early voting process violated Ohioans’ rights to participate equally in elections. The courts sided with the plaintiffs, concluding it was wrong to treat some voters (non-military) different than others (military).
The majority-Republican Ohio state legislature and Secretary of State Jon Husted had canceled early voting in 2012. According to The Raw Story (http://bit.ly/SRNKCi), when concerned citizens pointed out that shuttering the last three days of early voting would disenfranchise a large number of black voters, Husted said, “We’re not 7-11″ (http://bit.ly/SRNKCi) to a conservative talk show host.
Another Republican official, Doug Preisse, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party and close adviser to Gov. John Kasich, reportedly wrote an email to the Cincinnati Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1qCPdYK)that read, in part, “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”
While the ruling this week was a victory for fair and open elections in Ohio, it underscores the need to be vigilant and active in pursuing legal, social, and economic justice for all.
Ambrose Moses, III is an attorney with Moses Law Office. Email: info@MosesLaw.pro. Telephone: (614) 418-7898.
