Ohio Reminder: Election Starts TOMORROW does it not?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

Same day registration and in person absentee voting starts TOMORROW:

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/09/absent_for_sun.html

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections promotes early voting
Posted by Joe Guillen/Plain Dealer Reporter September 26, 2008 23:22PM

If you are ready to vote early, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is ready for you.

"In-house voting" begins Tuesday, and portions of the board offices on Euclid Avenue have been outfitted as a polling location.

For a week, you can even do some unique one-stop shopping: register to vote, apply for and receive an absentee ballot and cast your vote.

But that would mean that two challenges in federal court would not overturn the secretary of state's decision to allow same-day registration and voting. Two hearings on the issue are scheduled for Monday.

Voter registration ends Oct. 6, but absentee balloting goes on every day through Nov. 3, the day before Election Day.

More than voter convenience is at work here. The board hopes 300,000 people vote early. It would mean smaller lines at polling places on Nov. 4, less stress for poll workers, a leisurely way for voters to fill out what could be a three-page ballot, and a means for the board to tally votes faster.

[Doremus]

1. K&R

[A Brand New World]

2. Tomorrow is my birthday and tomorrow I am voting early in Ohio

for President Obama! It will be a wonderful day!!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. Kick

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. Kick - tomorrow is now TODAY.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Early same day registration/absentee voting upheld by OH Supreme Court: GAME ON

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/09/ohio_supreme_court_federal_jud.html

Ohio Supreme Court, federal judge back Brunner on 30-day rule
Posted by Peter Krouse/Plain Dealer Reporter September 29, 2008 22:31PM

Newly registered voters in Ohio won't have to wait 30 days to cast their absentee ballots.

That was the ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court on Monday, as well as a federal judge in Cleveland.

The cases revolve around a directive by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner earlier this year. She determined that while eligible voters must be registered at least 30 days before the election, they can register and cast an absentee ballot in the same day.

The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Brunner's position. So did U.S. District Judge James Gwin in Cleveland. He issued a temporary restraining order against the Madison County Board of Elections Monday, shortly before the Supreme Court's decision was announced.

Madison County challenged Brunner's ruling by deciding absentee ballots could only be requested after the 30-day period elapsed.

Tuesday is the first day absentee ballots can be requested. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 6.

The decision apparently was easy for Gwin.

"Candidly, the underlying merits of issues are not even close," he wrote. "With regard to the interpretation of Ohio law, Defendant Brunner obviously determined the issue correctly."

Brunner, a Democrat, called the ruling a victory for all Ohio voters.

"It should send a message to the forces of confusion and chaos that our top goal must be protecting Ohioans' voting rights," she said in a prepared statement.

The leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties in Ohio had contrasting opinions on the rulings.

"A federal court judge has confirmed what nonpartisan voting experts, newspapers from across the ideological spectrum and the secretary of state already knew," Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said in a written statement. "Ohio law, as written by a Republican legislature, should continue as passed and early voting should move forward as planned."

Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett was disappointed. He called the ability to immediately register and vote part of Brunner's "partisan efforts to aide the Democrat turnout strategy."

The potential for fraud was one reason the Madison County Board of Elections wanted to make newly registered voters wait to get their absentee ballots, said Donald Brey, who represented the board.

Brey told Gwin that the Board of Elections wanted to restrict only those registering to vote for the first time, not people who were re-registering after changing residence.

The plaintiffs challenging Madison County include Project Vote, an organization that helps low-income and minority citizens register to vote.

"The concerns about fraud are completely bogus," said lawyer Dan Tokaji, who represented the plaintiffs.

A third lawsuit on the issue, this one brought by the Ohio Republican Party, was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

Judge George Smith abstained from ruling Monday on when absentee ballots can be distributed because the Ohio Supreme Court ruled earlier in the day.

On a related matter, Smith ruled that observers will be allowed in places where people can register to vote and then cast their absentee ballots, all in the same day.

Plain Dealer reporter Mark Rollenhagen contributed to this story