The 20 voting machines, the registration tables, and the stacks of absentee voter forms were all in place at the Lucas County Board of Elections early vote center, ready to be used today for the start of early voting in the Nov. 4 election.
But a last-minute decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down Ohio’s “Golden Week” of early voting and voter registration.
The effect of the court’s 5-4 ruling is that early voting will start in Ohio next Tuesday, a day after the last day to register to vote. The new voting schedule provides for weekday voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the election; voting on two Saturdays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and voting on one Sunday, Nov. 2, from 1 to 5 p.m.
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The court issued a stay in response to a request by Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, who had suffered a string of defeats in the court battle that started in May in a lawsuit brought by the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and the American Civil Liberties Union, with the later support of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The move blocks an order issued by U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus and upheld by a three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The lower court ruling had blocked the state from enforcing the shorter window of 28 days before the election as opposed to 35 days under prior law.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., and Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia, who were appointed by Republican presidents, agreed to indefinitely stay the order for a longer early voting window while the court considers whether to hear the state’s appeal.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, appointed by Democrat presidents, indicated they would have rejected the stay.
“Today’s ruling validates what I have long said: Elections in Ohio should be run by the same rules in every county and Ohioans should have the right to make those rules through their elected representatives,” Mr. Husted said.
His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Nina Turner (D., Cleveland) said Republicans have succeeded in suppressing voting opportunities.
“The same divided court that struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act has now made it immeasurably more difficult for working Ohioans, African-Americans, and low-income and homeless voters to cast their ballot,” Ms. Turner said.
Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald had planned to vote in Cuyahoga County today. He immediately sent out a fund-raising email to capitalize on the court’s decision.
“It is extremely unfortunate that five justices have chosen today to impose a right-wing political agenda on the state of Ohio,” he said.
Republican Gov. John Kasich was attending an early vote rally in Independence, outside Cleveland, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“We respect the court’s decision,” said campaign spokesman Connie Wehrkamp. Mr. Kasich signed the law, Senate Bill 328 abolishing Golden Week, which the Supreme Court upheld Monday.
Golden Week was established in 2005 in response to a controversial election in 2004, which was marred by long lines of voters. Earlier this year, the GOP-controlled legislature changed the election law and abolished Golden Week with Senate Bill 328.
The lawsuit alleged that Senate Bill 328 violated the Civil Rights Act in that the restrictions on the early voting days and evening and weekend hours would disproportionately and unconstitutionally harm African-American voters who participate in “Souls to Polls.” Those are events in which people go as a group directly after church to the early-vote center.
The lawsuit also claimed the measure disadvantaged low-income voters, who statistically have been more likely to take advantage of them. They have also been more likely to vote Democratic.
The state has argued that, even with only 28 days, Ohio allows more access to voting than 41 other states, and that the legislature was acting within its proper jurisdiction.
Gina Kaczala, the director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, and her staff were in the early vote center at 1946 13th St. finishing training and setting up equipment to accommodate some 6,000 voters who might be expected to cast an early vote before Election Day on Nov. 4.
“We were up and ready to go. We were just doing our final prep work that we do before every election,” Ms. Kaczala said.
News of the Supreme Court’s ruling came about 4:30 p.m., just as a group of elected Lucas County Democrats was holding a news conference at the early vote center. One of those was U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), who urged people to take advantage of the opportunity to vote early starting today, unaware that the Supreme Court had just revoked it.
“These Republicans who are currently in office in Ohio aren’t fit to govern. We were announcing our early vote site, trying to make it easier for people with difficulties to vote. They just took that away. They just threw another wrench in the wheels of government,” Miss Kaptur said.
Her Republican opponent, Richard May of Cleveland, said Golden Week made it harder for election boards to weed out fraudulent voters, and said the issue did not belong in the courts because it concerned convenience of voting, not the fundamental right of voting.
“All of Americans must have a sense of security that their votes are being counted and there is no silliness,” Mr. May said.
The process that the election boards were going to follow was that people who wanted to register and vote on the same day would cast a paper ballot, which would be kept in an envelope with their name on it for 10 days. If a letter sent to their home was not returned as undeliverable within 10 days, the vote would be counted.
State Sen. Edna Brown (D., Toledo) blamed the Republicans for forcing the issue to a court decision on the eve of the start of early voting.
“They should have waited until after this election to make any changes they felt were necessary. To go the Supreme Court at the last minute and block people’s access to voting, I think that’s unconscionable,” Ms. Brown said.
Her opponent, Republican Ernie McCarthy, said he had not reviewed the court decision, but said the timing of the court battle was detrimental to public confidence in the voting system.
“I’m really upset that they’re doing all this court action so close to early vote. All it’s going to do is confuse voters, make them question the entire process,” Mr. McCarthy said.
Lucas County Republican Chairman Jon Stainbrook defended the Supreme Court’s and the GOP’s position.
“The state of Ohio offers many opportunities for voters to cast their ballot. I applaud Secretary of State Husted and Attorney General DeWine for enforcing the law that the General Assembly made. The federal judge overstepped his authority by forcing the Golden Week to be held,” Mr. Stainbrook said.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.
First Published September 30, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
