Official: Dozen central Ohio ballots wrongly tossed in 2014

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio election official has testified in Columbus federal court that about a dozen Franklin County voters’ ballots should have been counted in 2014 but were thrown out.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that local elections board director and Franklin County Democratic Party chairman William Anthony says elections officials should have examined the ballots.

A legal battle has ensued over a series of Republican-backed revisions that Democrats say disproportionately burden black voters and those who lean Democratic.

A representative for the Northeast Coalition for the Homeless and the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless says ballots with errors in one county might be counted but would be tossed in other counties.

The state’s attorneys have said the voting changes were minor and that Ohioans have many opportunities to vote.