Ohio Secretary of State Blocks New Voter Registrations
by Jim Bebbington and Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News
Boards of elections told to strictly follow two provisions
DAYTON
– Voters-rights advocates are criticizing two recent decisions by Ohio
Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell that they say will unfairly
limit some people's ability to vote Nov. 2.
Blackwell's office has told county boards of elections to follow strictly two provisions in Ohio election law:
One requires Ohio voter registration cards be printed on thick, 80-pound stock paper.
The
other ordered boards to strictly interpret the rules regarding
provisional ballots, the ones cast by voters who move before the
election but are still registered in Ohio.
The
paper-stock issue is frustrating Montgomery County Board of Elections
officials, who have a backlog of registrations to complete. If they get
an Ohio voter registration card on paper thinner than required, they
are mailing a new card out to the voter. But if they still have the
backlog by the registration deadline, Oct. 4, voters will not have
another chance to get their correct paperwork in, said Steve Harsman,
deputy director of the Montgomery County board.
“There is just no reason to use 80-pound paper,” Harsman said.
In
Montgomery County there is a backlog of around 4,000 registrations,
Harsman said. A few hundred could be affected by this provision, he
said.
Cuyahoga
County board of elections officials are ignoring the edict because they
have already had an avalanche of new registrations submitted on forms
printed on newsprint in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.
(Click here to read the entire article on TruthOut.org.)
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