Groups file emergency motion over last-minute move that could toss Ohio provisional ballots

theGRIO REPORT - Voting rights advocates are asking a federal court to step in and stop what they call an eleventh hour move by the Ohio secretary of state that could disenfranchise thousands of Ohio voters...

joyannreid

Nov 3, 2012

On Saturday, NEOCH, Progress Ohio and State Senator Nina Turner held an emergency press conference, in which they accused Husted of orchestrating a stealth form of voter suppression.

“Husted’s edict deliberately seeks to disenfranchise eligible voters whose votes should be counted,” a press release from Progress Ohio read. “In a close election, it could come down to provisional ballots and this 11th hour directive could be a game changer and is nothing short of voter suppression. Husted’s actions are now the subject of emergency motions which have been filed in federal court in Columbus by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.”

“Long story short, what we’ve discovered is that Husted has issued a directive that increases the chances that provisional ballots will be discarded even if they’re legitimate voters,” Chandra said. “We’re talking about technical errors on a form of his own creation, which goes beyond Ohio law in demanding information that it’s the poll worker’s job to provide. It’s a way for Husted to ‘Houdini’ his way out of the claim that it’s poll worker error that led to the problem.”

Husted’s office did not respond to theGrio’s request for comment.

Many election watchers worry that a record number of provisional ballots could be utilized in Tuesday’s election, potentially delaying the final vote count. Provisional ballots are not counted until ten days after the election. Husted’s office has previously stated it mailed out 1.3 million absentee ballots, with 370,000 yet to be returned as of Friday. Voters who requested an absentee ballot but choose to vote in person must use a provisional ballot.

Compare the ballot affirmation language required by Ohio law, below:

And view Husted’s revision to the ballot affirmation below, which requires the voter to fill out the ID portion that Ohio law states is to be filled out by a poll worker:

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