THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
Ohio Set to Repeal Changes in Voting Law On Tuesday, the Republican Governor of Ohio, John Kasich signed into law a bill that Democrats have been calling repressive and designed to pre-empt a repeal referendum. The new law repeals provisions of a voter law passed last year that barred counties from unsolicited mailings to voters and required poll workers to help voters who were aware that they were in the wrong location. Prior to the law, counties had been mailing unsolicited absentee ballots to voters.
05/16/12
provisions reduced the chances of voter fraud when combined with voter identification laws. However, critics
However, the new law did not repeal the provisions of
hold otherwise.
voter law that stopped in-person voting on the three days immediately before an election. This, of course, is
In a meeting at Cleveland last week, Ohio Senator
in line with the wishes of the Democrats.
Sherrod Brown told his supporters, “The overwhelming evidence … indicates that voter fraud is virtually non-
The hastily signed new law seems to be an attempt to
existent, and that these new laws will make it harder
avoid a referendum that could have caused Democrat
for hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled, minority,
supporters to turn out in greater numbers in the
young, rural and low-income Americans to exercise
November election. Ohio, being a key state, such an
their right to vote.”
event would have immensely enhanced the reelection However, Greg Moore, campaign director for Fair
prospects of Mr. Obama.
Elections Ohio, told the Reuters that they would keep Jon Husted, the Republican Secretary of State of Ohio
pressing until a full repeal of the restrictive provisions
said in a statement, “With the law at the heart of the
take place. Moore said, “In 2008, 100,000 people,
referendum … having been repealed, there is no longer
19 percent of voters, voted in the three days before
a question to place before the voters.”
the election. We will keep pushing until we get a full repeal.”
Pre-emptive strikes seem to have become standard American policy both in international and domestic
Obviously, the referendum can still occur, given the
politics.
statistics of Mr. Moore, and the fact that the new law still refrains to address the restriction that blocks
The proponents of the original law, parts of which have
people from voting on the three days prior to election.
been repealed by the new law, held that the restrictive
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