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Federal judge restores Ohio's early voting hours
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A federal judge has ordered Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted to restore an extra week and additional days and evening hours for early voting, ruling Husted’s directives and GOP-backed election-law changes are unconstitutional.
Judge Peter C. Economus determined the early in-person schedule announced for the general election disproportionately hurt black, homeless and low-income voters.
The decision Thursday would mean early in-person voting starts Sept. 30, 35 days before the election, instead of 28 as outlined under legislation enacted this year. The change would reestablish “golden week,” the period of time when eligible Ohioans can register and cast ballots on the same day.
Additional evenings and Sundays also will be added during the final two weeks of the early-voting period and on one additional Sunday.
The changes would affect only the November general election; the judge wrote that he will consider a permanent injunction on future elections.
Judge Economus also charged state lawmakers with “the responsibility of passing legislation consistent” with his order scheduled a status conference on the issue for early December.
Husted said he would appeal the decision, saying it “kicks the door open to having different rules for voting in each of Ohio’s 88 counties, which is not fair, uniform and was not even acceptable to this court or the plaintiffs previously.”
He added in a statement, “We must appeal this ruling, because we can’t simultaneously treat people the same and differently.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, several churches with predominantly black congregations and other groups filed suit in May, saying an elimination of the first week of early voting and a lack of Sunday and evening voting would make it harder for minority voters to cast ballots.
Husted and the attorney general’s office countered that Ohio has more early voting opportunities than many other states and that any eligible Ohioan can complete a mail-in ballot at any time of day during the state’s absentee period. They also argued that requiring longer hours and additional days for early in-person voting would create a cost burden for already-strapped county offices.
Judge Economus sided with the NAACP, however, ruling that golden week “can make the difference between being able to exercise the fundamental right to vote and not being able to do so,” particularly for needy Ohioans without access to transportation to the polls.
He added later, “These voters are more likely to rely on public transportation and work wage-based jobs wherein they are less likely to be able to find the time during lunch and other breaks to travel to polling location between the hours of 8 and 5. ... Each county is permitted to operate only one early-voting location. As such, a given voter may be forced to travel a great distance to reach the single location. While public transportation may be available to reach the polling place, it may not be possible for lower income wage-earners to timely take advantage of that transportation.”
Economus also noted black churches’ “Souls to the Polls” programs, providing transportation to congregation members after Sunday worship services.
He wrote, “Absent the use of transportation provided by the churches, many members of these communities could find it difficult to cast a vote as those in lower socio-economic groups tend to be more constrained in terms of transportation options.”