Ohio Republican Secretary of State sued over order to discard provisional ballots

[babsbunny]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/03/ohio-republican-secretary-of-state-sued-over-order-to-discard-provisional-ballots/

By Megan Carpentier
Saturday, November 3, 2012 17:55 EDT

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, whose decision to try to restrict early voting was thrown out first by an Ohio judge, then a federal appeals court and denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court, will be back in court again this month after he issued a last-minute directive on provisional ballots that not only contradicts Ohio law but is also in violation of a recent court decision and the opposite of what Husted’s own lawyers said he would do.

As reported by Judd Legum at ThinkProgress, Husted ordered election officials not to fill out a section of the provisional ballot that verifies what form of identification that the voter produced and that, if it is incorrectly filled out, the ballot will automatically not be counted. However, under the law establishing the provisional balloting procedures, according to the lawsuit filed against Husted on Friday, it is election officials that are supposed to record the type of ID provided, not the voter — and that election officials are supposed to attempt to resolve any questions on the spot.

[theinquisitivechad]

1. We got teeth, baby

And we know how to use 'em

Loving this campaign!

[Buddaman]

2. BAM!!!

Good news!!!

[teddy51]

3. I hope the judge throws this POS in jail for obstruction.

[liberalmuse]

4. This POS.

He will lose.

[Thinkingabout]

5. Are the seven republican senators going to investigate this?

Bet Shame Insanity will not whine about this either.

[Marr]

6. I really hope this crooked bastard is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I'm so sick of these people flagrantly violating the law, gaming the system, and then skating.

Make an example of this prick. PLEASE.

[beac]

7. Why isn't that asswipe in JAIL yet?

[ShadowLiberal]

8. The same reason Wall Street Bankers who committed fraud aren't

[kelliekat44]

9. It is more important as to what will happen to the voters at this point. After Nov 6,

this man should be sued, found guilty and thrown in jail for civil rights violations.

[BlueStreak]

10. Monday will be interesting

The article says "... and the court has said that it plans to resolve the issue before provisional ballots are counted on November 17, 2012."

If the court does not issue an order on Monday for the election workers to follow the law, then how will they be able to count the ballots later. If the poll workers don't verify the ID on election day, wouldn't that spoil the ballots?

[SickOfTheOnePct]

11. The issue at hand has to do with how the provisional envelope is filled out

If not done correctly (according to Husted), it would be thrown out on counting day. With counting day being 2 weeks away, the lawsuit has time to proceed.

But it shouldn't take that long, and they should try to resolve it by Tuesday.

[regnaD kciN]

12. The court could order, post-election, that all unverified ballots be counted...

...but I'm sure the Roberts SCOTUS would overturn that.