Ohioblog: A Swing State Journal

Voting: a full-contact sport in Ohio 

Pity the federal judiciary in Ohio. They're working this weekend (hmmm, seems as if Ohioblog has been doing the very same thing) to decide whether we can get in one another's faces at the polls come Tuesday. Between the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott
in Cincinnati and boards of election such as Summit's which threw out unsupportable Republican challenges to voter regisitrations the pre-election challenges have been halted. Wise decision. The Republicans painted with too broad a brush and couldn't support - or didn't even bother to try - their allegations. They looked bad in the process.

They could look worse Tuesday, depending on rulings from U.S. District Judge John Adams in Akron and Dlott in Cincinnati, who are considering whether a decades-old law that allows challenges at the polls is constitutional.

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell attempted the role of peacemaker Friday, asking that the political parties call off their poll challengers, while seeking legal support from Attorney General Jim Petro. Petro, who will be running against Blackwell for governor in 2006, said he couldn't support Blackwell's no-challengers plea in court.

Whatever and whenver the rulings, Election Day could be the most interesting in Ohio history. There are more registered voters (7.98) million than ever before, and Blackwell is predicting a turnout of 5.8 million, which would exceed by 750,000 the number who voted in 1992 when President Bush's father George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot were on the ballot. Arm yourself - with knowledge - before you go to the polls. You may need it.




posted by Ohioblog: A Swing State Journal at 11:38 AM