Settlement reached in spat over Ohio absentee ballots

Associated Press

TOLEDO

Ohio will mail absentee- ballot request forms to voters in all counties ahead of the 2012 presidential election, settling a dispute between the state’s top election official and the leader of the state’s largest county.

As part of the agreement announced Friday, Cuyahoga County officials agreed not to send out unsolicited mailings for absentee ballots for this year’s general election.

Cuyahoga County officials in Cleveland had threatened to defy Secretary of State Jon Husted’s order barring county elections boards from mailing the unsolicited applications. The county’s council earlier in the week authorized mailings to all registered voters.

That led to a meeting Thursday in Columbus where Husted, a Republican, and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, a Democrat, worked out the compromise.

“We ended up making voting more convenient for millions of Ohioans,” FitzGerald said in a statement. “This is great news for anyone who believes public officials should try to keep voting simple.”