As noted a few posts back, the good news is that Democrats are registering way more voters in swing states than Republicans. The bad news is that Republicans are doing what they always do: playing dirty.
Voters-rights advocates are criticizing two recent decisions by Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell that they say will unfairly limit some people’s ability to vote Nov. 2. Blackwell’s office has told county boards of elections to follow strictly two provisions in Ohio election law:
• One requires Ohio voter registration cards be printed on thick, 80-pound stock paper.
• The other ordered boards to strictly interpret the rules regarding provisional ballots, the ones cast by voters who move before the election but are still registered in Ohio.
The paper-stock issue is frustrating Montgomery County Board of Elections officials, who have a backlog of registrations to complete. If they get an Ohio voter registration card on paper thinner than required, they are mailing a new card out to the voter. But if they still have the backlog by the registration deadline, Oct. 4, voters will not have another chance to get their correct paperwork in, said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County board. In Montgomery County there is a backlog of around 4,000 registrations, Harsman said. A few hundred could be affected by this provision, he said.
Via Duncan, who notes that this pretty clearly violates the voting rights of those affected.