In a U.S. District Court in Cleveland today, Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley ruled on a request for Preliminary Injunction challenging portions of the recently enacted provisions of Ohio law (HB 3) regulating voter registration activities.
Plaintiffs asking for the injunction included Common Cause/Ohio along with Project Vote, and other community, faith groups and individuals. The plaintiffs claimed that these onerous new laws and regulations have seriously harmed their traditional registration drives by imposing a variety of unreasonable restrictions on individuals and groups involved in voter registration activity.
Judge O'Malley sustained all eight counts which the plaintiffs asked the court to rule on. In addition, she ruled that the Secretary of State's office accept all registration forms, and remove from their website any references to prosecution for failing to properly register a voter. She stated that the new law presented an undue burden of association on the plaintiffs and was inconsistent with the U.S. Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
The rulings will stand pending any appellate reversal.
Sam Gresham, Acting Executive Director stated, "This is a victory for the voters of Ohio."
In another elections suit filed yesterday in federal court in Columbus, a coalition of individuals and groups representing Ohio voters are "seek[ing] prospective relief for violation of their rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 1983 and 1985, and the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, arising out of ongoing conduct of Ohio's Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in connection with past elections in Ohio."
The suit was filed hoping to preserve the paper ballots from the 2004 election (which otherwise could be destroyed in early September) as evidence that can be used to prove or disprove vote tampering in the 2004 election.
The complaint accuses Secretary of State Blackwell of continuing to deprive Ohio voters of their rights in a "selective and discrimitory manner" through the unequal allocation of voting resources, by purging voter registrations, and by implementing a provisional ballot system during the 2004 presidential election depriving citizens of their Constitutional right to vote.
At a news conference after the filing, investigator for the plaintiffs, Richard Hayes Phillips, who says he has personally examined 1000's of punch-card ballots, claimed that evidence of excessive double-punching in urban areas and other anomalies around the state present an appearance of vote rigging which can't be overlooked.
The plaintiffs ask the court to enter judgment that these practices constitute an unequal system of voting, and that if the situation is not remedied it will threaten the integrity of future elections. They also call for Secretary of State Blackwell to be replaced in his elections capacity by a special master who would ensure that Ohio elections are administered fairly.
