BREAKING: Major Court Ruling Restores Early Voting Days In Ohio

[DonRedwood]

Source: ThinkProgress

The U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio ruled Tuesday that the deep cuts to Ohio’s early voting days signed into law by Gov. John Kasich (R) are “unconstitutional and…accordingly unenforceable.”
Judge Michael Watson sided with the Ohio Democratic Party, which had sued the state for sharply curtailing the number of early voting days. Since President Obama won reelection in 2012, Ohio’s Republican lawmakers and Secretary of State have voted to eliminate the days and times of early voting that were most convenient for those working full time: the weekend before election day, weekday evenings, and what’s known as “Golden Week,” the time about a month before election day when the registration period and the early voting period overlap.
These cuts, the judge wrote, “results in less opportunity for African Americans to participate in the political process than other voters.”
The court ordered the Republican governor and Secretary of State to once again allow voters to begin casting ballots 35 days before November’s presidential election. Republicans may appeal Tuesday’s ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/05/24/3781436/ohio-early-voting-restored/

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Ohio just got a heck of a lot closer to going blue...

[pmorlan1]

1. Great news

I'm glad to hear it!

[DonRedwood]

2. Feels like a victory, eh?!

[IdaBriggs]

3. Unless Hillary is the nominee -- her plan to put Bill in charge

of trade policy is guaranteed to turn the Rust Belt red.

I think she's clueless as to how we automotive people feel about the good jobs heading to Mexico thanks to NAFTA.

But three cheers for voting!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Hope the judge will keep an eye out in case a Republican gun clown will try to pick him off,

as revenge, and as a warning to other judges not to rule against the nation's dirty, murderous idiots.

[oldandhappy]

5. glad t see this, thank you for the post.

[Enthusiast]

6. Great! That gives them extra time to sort through them and throw away the ones they don't want.

[progressoid]

7. Rec!

[Eugene]

8. Ohio appeals U.S. court decision in favor of early voting

Source: Reuters

Politics | Thu May 26, 2016 8:03pm EDT

Ohio appeals U.S. court decision in favor of early voting

CLEVELAND | BY KIM PALMER

The state of Ohio filed a federal court appeal on Thursday seeking to restore a Republican-backed limit on early voting and accelerated voter-registration measures that were seen by civil rights groups as boosting minority turnout.

U.S. District Judge Michael Watson in Columbus ruled on Tuesday that Ohio violated voters' rights by reducing the period that ballots could be cast before an election to four weeks from five weeks.

Watson's decision also struck down Ohio's elimination of a seven-day window during which residents could both register to vote and cast their ballots all in the same week - a period known as "Golden Week."

Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature abolished "Golden Week" and shortened early voting by seven days in 2014, drawing a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ohio-election-rights-idUSKCN0YH2RV