Ohio Republicans suing to suppress the vote
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Ohio Republicans have filed suit to block early voting by new registrants.
When the Ohio legislature legalized "no excuse" early voting this year it created an opportunity to bring more citizens into the voting process. In Ohio, early voting starts September 31. The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 election is October 6.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner seized this opportunity and issued a directive to allow people to register and then vote early in a single visit to their department of elections. This means that people can register and vote -- essentially a form of same day registration -- between September 31 and October 6.
Republicans in Ohio don't want new voters to participate in the election. They don't want students, low income people, African Americans, unmarried women and others who have traditionally been underrepresented in our election system to vote at the same rate as older, more affluent, and white citizens who are currently overrepresented. And so they are suing to make it harder for people to register and vote in Ohio.
The Republicans in Ohio want to suppress new voters. They want to challenge the votes of citizens whose homes are in foreclosure. Secretary of State Brunner, on the other hand, has opened the door to greater and more equal participation for all of Ohio's citizens.
We need more Jennifer Brunners -- it's time to get partisan politics out of the running of our elections. If you haven't checked out our 2008 slate of reform candidates running for Secretary of State, now might be a good time to take a look.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.secstateproject.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/38