Associated Press
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R)
After losing in the lower courts, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced last week that he would take his early-voting restrictions to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping for a more favorable outcome.
In a victory for voting-rights advocates and Democrats, Husted lost at the high court, too.
The U.S. Supreme Court sealed a legal victory for President Barack Obama's campaign in the pivotal state of Ohio, leaving intact a ruling that restored early voting rights for the weekend before the Nov. 6 election.
Ohio Republicans had sought to cancel early voting that weekend for everyone except members of the military. A U.S. appeals court blocked the plan last week, saying it probably violated the constitutional rights of non-military voters. In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court today rejected a challenge to that ruling, filed by Ohio's Republican secretary of state and attorney general.
To briefly recap for those who haven't been following this story, Ohio had previously allowed voters an early-voting window of three days before Election Day, which in turn boosted turnout and alleviated long lines in 2008. This year, state Republican officials wanted to close the window -- active-duty servicemen and women could vote early, but no one else, not even veterans, could enjoy the same right the weekend before the election.
President Obama's campaign team filed suit, asking for a level playing field, giving every eligible Ohio voter -- active-duty troops, veterans, and civilians -- equal access. Ohio Republicans kept pushing back, pleading with one court after another to limit voters' access.
Today, the Supreme Court effectively ended the fight.
Just yesterday, elections law expert Rick Hasen said the outcome of this case had the potential to dictate the outcome of the presidential race in Ohio, and by extension, possibly even the nation. For Democrats, that makes the outcome at the U.S. Supreme Court that much more encouraging.
Update: It's worth keeping in mind that there are potentially some fights still looming, including at local elections boards in the state. We also do not yet know what additional procedural steps Husted might take.
Second Update: My colleague Laura Conaway, who's covered this story closely, reminds me that Husted said last week that, in the event a defeat at the Supreme Court, he would set up uniform voting hours for each of Ohio’s 88 counties. Whether he'll follow through remains to be seen.
Third Update: Husted has now issued a directive setting uniform hours on the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before the election, and it's online here (pdf). In a statement, he grudgingly conceded, "Today I have set uniform hours statewide, giving all Ohio voters the same opportunities to vote in the upcoming presidential election regardless of what county they live in." That this is a concession the Ohio Secretary of State fought tirelessly not to make is rather remarkable, but as of this afternoon, it appears the fight is over.
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Husted is busted!
He should be forced out of office if he doesn't do his job now.
Oh don't worry, he'll either change the hours (shorter) for everyone, or he'll start whining about that librul SCOTUS - my guess is both...
He has set the hours:
8 am to 2 pm on Saturday Nov. 3
1 pm to 5 pm on Sunday Nov. 4
8 am to 2 pm on Monday Nov. 5
This is so important. It is beyond important. It is critical for our Democratic process that the Robber Barons, the fascistic organization A.L.E.C. and all the Right-Wing puppets out there get a message once and for all :
. . . Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for ALL in America . . . not just Radical, Right-Wing, Racists, Homophobic, Women-Hating, Teapublican puppets.
Wow! He's being *very* generous with his hours. It will definitely help those who can't vote during normal hours. NOT!!
Why the F- bother.
Anyone know what the hours were in 2008? My guess is that Husted looked at hourly turnouts then and chose the 2012 hours based on the hours with the lowest turnout in 2008.
Nary a political friend for our man Husted! I hope he realizes by now he is an island, even though he's been acting more like a peninsula - and its general penile affect (Yes, I am calling him a bit dickish)! -Kevo
Reason Wins for One Day; Reasoning Method Applied:
Statement: If the election is evenly matched like 50, 49, 1 then the whole election is like a coin toss, then that match is coin toss.
Exercise:
If the election is evenly matched like 50, 49, 1 then the whole election is like a coin toss, then that match is coin toss.
This could possibly suggest more than the futile outcome of elections. That suggestion might indicate a balanced split between ideas that are both firmly agreed by each side. And that those ideas must also have a high degree of similarity.
Ideas that are in opposition are not likely be reconciled.
- Opposition Ideas are firm, set and convincing in the sense that it takes a lot to change them. In this sense are done stick fork in them.
Ideas that are in unanimity are not likely to be challenged.
- Unanimity Ideas are not challenged, too much common sense, and in that take lot to change them. In this sense are done stick fork in them.
Since it would take lot of effort to change those strongly held ideas, we find that those arduous efforts are displaced by the ease of a coin toss.
So it is safe to conclude that American have over generations failed to preserve those natural gifts of abundance, and have inadvertently chosen to ignore them. While enjoying the fruits of capitalism we should have been on guard against the greedy divorce separation of capitalism from morality.
So the American Election is evenly divided, this is intentional, because the toss of a coin is one chance, a toss of billion coins is a rich man's gambit,
The strength of the ideas of the opposition or the unanimity of the ideas of the status quo matter not a flake, except to fool as many voters as can be fooled.
The bean counter concerned about the millions if not billions to spent in an election campaign are utterly blinded to the fact that nearly nickel spend on campaign advertisement and raked in by giant media corporations. The general public is blind to the fact that those same media corporations are fed gigantic advertising revenues, making them the largest corporations in the world, fed by even larger corporations. Those billion nickels march from one corporate account to another and are called legitimate business deductions.
The rich man gambit is this, for every coin tossed from one hand, there is another hand ready to catch it. You cannot loose when you own both sides of the same coin.
The election is a Joke when a (Romney) Bain Capital owned company, Clear Channel, can place Voter Suppression Billboards across a selected landscape, and Clear Channel can funnel advertisement revenues to Rush Limbaugh and Glen Back, and those bill boards and media advertisements can be paid for by those enterprising lads the Koch Brothers. This is American Exceptionalism at its best, when the divorce between morality and greed is enshrined as solely owned property right.
We are the happy fools waiting for the greedy cow to yield milk, when it is a bull.
A truly logical, though pessimistic, post...
So, you're saying, because the Republicans own all the media and the Super-PACs, the Super-PACs spend all their money on advertisements in the media, and all the media's profits go to the Republicans, the Republicans can give all they want to to the Super-PACs, right?
But, I own my vote, and I decide where it goes... One reason I might not use that vote, is if someone, (like you), tells me the whole system is rigged and my voting won't matter anyway, so why bother?
Major Premise : Trolls try to discourage Democrats from voting...
Minor Premise : You are trying to discourage me, a Democrat, from voting...
Conclusion : You are a troll...
There. See? Anybody can play that game...
Very encouraging for the base. Collective exhale.
About That Voting Machine Company Tied To Mitt Romney And Bain Capital…
http://www.nationalmemo.com/about-that-voting-machine-company-tied-to-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-2/
OK. Now watch for Husted's next hijinks: polls open 1 hour a day, insufficient ballots, confusing directions to polling places, broken (or rigged) voting machines, Screw The Vote poll watchers challenging every voter, .... What else might go far right, i.e. wrong?
Let him try some criminal voter obstruction and see where he ends up. If he has any brains at all he will allow things to proceed smoothly, otherwise his political career could be ending soon.
Husted should be already packing his bags after this. Isn't it time for Ohio to get a Secretary of State that actually wants to encourage voting by simplifying it? It appears Rs are united to work to slow voting down.
I know some very nice people in Ohio, huge Buckeye fans and working folks. They are not stupid, they see what's going on.
66Mustang.. Mitt Romney is a Republican candidate and with the G.O.P and he is the same party, Shoulded they not be discredited of their votes
I am surprised that the Supreme court didn't send this back like they did with citizens united so that they could make a broader ruling, it would also have left things sitting like they were till most likely after the election but I can't help but think something funny is going to come out of this.
The Supreme Court let the ruling stand because the case has the potential to reopen the issue of voting rights and race. Getting involved with the case would have added another black eye to the court with Bush v. Gore and Citizens United. I don't think Roberts is that dumb to make another blatant partisan ruling. That is why he steered clear of the Obamacare case and left it to Congress to repeal it. But that looks highly improbable the closer we get to the elections.
im from cleveland , this is a victory.....republicans are the dirtiest humans on the planet.
I think the Supremes just demonstrated that the old rule "once burned, twice shy" even works for morons like Scalia. They're not stepping back into another presidential election while there's a valid way out.
What was the Republicans' original justification for closing the early voting window?
To prevent democratic voters from voting.
No, I'm sure that's NOT what they argued in court.
Serious answers only, please.
Ok, to prevent minority voters from voting - of course they didn't argue this reason in court! Are you totally clueless regarding Carl Rove's under-the-radar tactics for electing Romney?
No, I am aware of the tatics of Carl Rove, and the Koch bros. They are getting out the cheat sheets in all of the Swing States.
The argument used is that the GOP believes that there was Voter Fraud during the early voting. Even though, there are no real cases on file.
Here is what will most likely happen in Ohio: There will be a shortage of the Electronic cheat machines in the Democratic counties, as well as the inner - city polling places. That you can count on.
They will have Voter Challengers present there as well. You can bank on that.
And, there is even an outside chance that Mr Husted will call upon the Governor, (Kasick), to at the very least, have the Police present since all of this has created a storm among the Democrats, Minorities (including women) voters.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if they call out the Ohio National Guard to oversee the whole process.
You know, with all the $$$$$ spent on trying to suppress the vote, buying and showing all the campaign ads, Billboards and 30 second soundbyte clips, it would have been cheaper for the Republicans to just pay their fair share of taxes and call it a day!!!!
But sadly a lot of damage has been done by creating confusion, by Husted's firing of honorable election board members, and untold other collateral damage. If only we could know who is high fiving Jon Husted for his job well done. DISGUSTING!
Why would Husted be so desperate? Pressure coming from somewhere?
Koch anyone?
Evidently, the strongest argument appears to have been equal protection under the law. You can't give active duty service people voting rights that ordinary citizens do not have. Gotta love that 14th Amendment!
This is a victory of for everyone and all three parties and as well for 'we the people'; being American citizens in being American voters/ By Scotus! We all have the unalienable RIGHT to vote in our elections.
This is no longer about voting rights. It's about power and domination. You could write it into a Batman plot!
Follow-up: Highly unlikely individual boards will take additional action. In a surprising step, Sec'y Husted issued Directive 2012-50 establishing voting days/hours those last three days.
Saturday, November 3, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4, 2012 – 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, November 5, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/elections/directives/2012/Dir2012-50.pdf
I tweeted this info to them and messaged the FB page. Hopefully Steve can get around to updating this post.
It is not at all unusual for the Supreme Court to accept decisions made by the Court of Appeals. They just don't take that many cases and there needs to be a compelling point of constitutional law that needs disambiguation for them to take a case.
Husted must have a tidy sum banked in order to continue such blatant attacks on voting right. He should be done in Ohio politics, and the way the GOP work he can go national in about 6yrs. In the meantime he can join Nathan Sproul as slime for hire for the GOP.
The Supreme Court knows that these voter restrictions are so Unconstitutional. They understand that the "Gross Odd People" (GOP), and the "Really Not Competent" (RNC) are just "Mentally Ill." One wonders what Dr. King would say today? The great Dr. King would ask the following questions. Why is America still debating this God given right to vote for every citizen? Was all we did to get the Voting Rights Act Of 1965 passed in vain? Why are rascists allowed to participate in the Presidential Campaign of the GOP/RNC? Why are the men who tried to kill me now running the GOP/RNC in 2012?
The "Cheating Machine" that has been built by the GOP in Ohio only has a setback. I am sure that come Election Day, you will see things like in 2004, from the playbook that was used then to get "W" (re elected?), when his poll numbers were the lowest since Richard (I'm Not A Crook) Nixon was in office.
This is where Early Voting will be even more important than before. I plan to early note tomorrow. I want to see first if Obama and the Dems have a backbone or not. I want to make sure if they will allow Willard Romney to spout one Lie after another Lie and get away with it or not.
I just have a rough time believing that "We, The People" can allow someone to run for the highest office in the land, and get away with flip-flopping and down right LYING to the American people.
You, as well as I want to know just whom the real Willard Romney is? I can say I have seen the real candidate. In the "47%" video, the real candidate in the video making fun of Latinos, the real candidate lying on stage about being in business for over 20 years and NEVER hearing about sending American jobs to China. LIER, LIER, LIER!!!!!
THAT IS THE REAL ROMNEY‼‼‼
As you read this now, half the town of Freeport Illinois is panic stricken because of Willard Romney closing their plant down and sending the jobs overseas to China to save money by having what amounts to SLAVE LABOUR! This is worse than the war crimes committed last decade.
I just can't believe this race to the White house is this even. WTF??? Who in good conscience would even think about voting for this P.O.S. that the Republican party has put up?
It's time to wake up people and see the seriousness of this election!
And apart from all of that, which are good points, but who in their right mind would want to vote for a POTUS that won't release his tax returns? No, seriously.
Give up.
Nothing or nobody is going to stop voters from reelecting Pres. Obama
The original reason was due to costs. Too expensive to do. I live in Cuyahoga County and they said not a problem and it mushroomed from there.
Too bad Husted didn't take all the taxpayer dollars he spent on fighting early voting and just spend it on, you know, early voting!
Interesting how it wasn't too expensive in all the previous elections where early voting was allowed, including this year's Republican primary.
I have the same question as Tom. What were the GOP lawyers arguing in court? We know why they were really doing it, but how did actually frame their argument(s)?
GOOD NEWS
What did this whole brouhaha cost the State of Ohio (read "taxpayers in Ohio")? Does anyone have a clue?
It is hard to think about the debate tonight when my fellow citizens are hurting so very badly in Freeport Illinois. The GOP/RNC "Speculator and Chief" is going to make $8 Million Dollars in 'blood money' by sending these American Jobs right to China. What is very frustrating! Is to know that Chinese Nationals are training for American Jobs on US soil, and that a Chinese Flag was flying over an American Plant. Now the Chinese Flag is down America however, the "Economic Evil" of this Bain Capital 'Speculation' is on the rise!