Secretary of state said he’s made it ‘easy to vote’ and ‘hard to cheat’

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted sums up his first term in a short phrase: “Easy to vote, hard to cheat.”

That’s what he says he’s accomplished over the past four years as the state’s chief elections officer, ensuring ample opportunity for eligible residents to cast ballots while working to block those who are ineligible from doing the same.

“We try to balance access to the polls while at the same time ensuring the integrity of the elections process,” Husted said.

But state Sen. Nina Turner, his Democratic opponent, said Husted and Statehouse Republicans have made it more difficult to vote in Ohio, cutting the absentee period and refusing to set evening and more weekend hours for casting early ballots.

“I am a pro-voter person,” Turner said. “I believe that the secretary of state’s job is to expand and protect access to the ballot box, and unfortunately, in my opinion, that has not been happening in the great state of Ohio.”

The early voting issue is central in the secretary of state’s race, with Husted and Turner as the two major party candidates, along with Libertarian Kevin Knedler.

Husted said he has worked to provide ample opportunities for eligible residents to vote, ensuring Ohioans serving in the military or living overseas have access to ballots and sending absentee applications to all eligible voters.

Absent action by the Legislature to set voting hours in state law, Husted said he adopted a schedule that was developed by bipartisan county elections officials, with 28 days of in-person polling.

He said his office has modernized the state’s data systems to better cross-check voter registration information with details on file with the bureau of motor vehicles.

In the process, he said 360,000 dead voters and 340,000 duplicate names were removed from the rolls. Husted also launched an online system allowing voters to update their registrations. He’d like lawmakers to act on legislation to authorize online voter registrations, too.

Turner also said Husted and Republican lawmakers have made it more difficult to vote.

“Every single year, the rules have been changed without regard to the impact that it has on voters,” she said. “And they haven’t been changed in a pro-voter way. They have been changed in a way that takes away voting opportunities.”

Earlier this year, lawmakers moved a bill to eliminate “Golden Week,” the period when eligible residents could register and cast ballots on the same day. And the early voting schedule adopted by Husted included mostly weekday hours, with no evenings, two Saturdays and one Sunday.

Lower federal courts ruled the state law change and Husted’s voting hours directive were unconstitutional and likely would hamper voting by black, low-income and other residents.

But last-minute action by the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily upheld the elimination of Golden Week and the voting hours directive, though there will be further federal court deliberations in the case after this election.

Turner said she would push for more early voting, including opportunities on weekday evenings and more weekends. She also said she would implement online voter registration, which she said the office has authority to accomplish under existing law.

Husted countered Turner’s assertions, saying the early voting schedule he adopted was the only one that received bipartisan agreement. Plus, he said anyone in the state can cast an absentee ballot anytime between now and election.

Among blacks and lower-income voters, Turner said, there is a mistrust that votes they mail will be counted.

“You can vote 24 hours a day, seven days a week with an absentee ballot,” Husted said. “You don’t have to mail that back if you don’t want to. You can still drop that ballot off at your local board of elections.”

Knedler said he wants to increase voting in Ohio with better ballot access for minor political parties.