Ohio looks to be an important swing state (again!) in the upcoming Presidential elections. But you might not have realized that legal issues may determine the outcome. Efforts to settle these issues in advance seem to have failed. Here are a few of the battles currently being fought:
Five-Day Window: Republicans have sued to try to prevent voters from registering to vote (must be at least 30 days before the election) and then, on the same day, voting by absentee ballot (may be done up to 35 days before the election) during the 5-day window when they are eligible to do both. They claim to be concerned about vote fraud.
Vote Caging: Democrats are seeking to end the practice in some counties of eliminating or challenging the registration status of some voters based on mailed notices having been returned undelivered. They claim that typos, students away at college, and military personnel may have their votes unfairly taken away.
Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, voters who responded to an erroneous absentee ballot application mailed out by the McCain campaign may find their applications ruled invalid by Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, although she has offered an easy way for voters to correct their applications. Pho has the statutory language.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could just focus on which candidates were supported by more people?
