When elections are fair, the PEOPLE win. - OCSEA

Voter Suppression:
Alive and Well in OhiO
If you’re confused about
early voting, you’re not
alone. The same politicians
who wanted to eliminate your
voice on the job last year with
Senate Bill 5, now want to eliminate
your voice at the ballot
box.
An unprecedented attempt
to try to suppress Ohioans’
vote has left the decision about
when you can vote early tangled
up in the court system. This
has left many voters wondering
when – or if – they’ll be able to
get to the polls this year.
Ohio Secretary of State (SOS)
Jon Husted, who ruled to limit
early voting hours and completely
eliminate them on the
weekends, has been behind
much of the shenanigans.
He’s the one behind:
• The firing of two
Montgomery County
Board of Elections members
for voting to allow
weekend early voting in
their county.
• Trying to deny Ohioans
the right to vote the last
three days before the
election – even after a
judge ruled otherwise.
What we know as of this
writing is that Ohioans likely
will be able to vote the last
three days before the election,
thanks to a federal judge who
intervened in Ohio. County
boards of elections are right
now figuring out their early
voting hours for those three
days. However, that still makes
the rest of weekend in-person
early voting through October
off limits. And guess who that
affects the most? Working
people!
“Not only are they trying to
put the genie back in the bottle
by limiting early voting, they
are specifically targeting working
people who are on the job
during regular business hours
and depend on weekend and
Voter Suppression Timeline
in-person voting became widely-used in 2008 and immediately alleviated the
problem of long poll lines in Ohio’s urban precincts. To make sense of how we got
here and who’s responsible, we’ve created the Voter Suppression Timeline.
E
arly,
evening voting hours,” said
OCSEA President Christopher
Mabe.
“This is the sign of desperation.
If you can’t win an election
with your good policies,
you’ll try to steal it with dirty
politics,” said Mabe.
To combat voter suppression,
OCSEA is supporting a
“Souls to the Polls” program,
Sleep Out the Vote events and
Movement Building Trainings.
Call Lori Elmore at 800-266-
5615, ext. 4722.
TIMELINE:
How they are trying to
take away your vote
2000-2004
In 2004, lines are so long at some
precincts in Ohio (think Cleveland,
East side Columbus), polls have to stay
open for hours after official closing time.
Some voters get frustrated and leave
before casting their vote.
2007
Ohio Secy. of State Jennifer
Brunner allows Ohioans to
register and cast an early vote
during “golden week.”
2008
Early in-person voting used
by large numbers of Ohioans
and seen as huge success.
African Americans, in particular,
use weekend, in-person voting,
and pastors organize “souls to
the polls” the Sunday before
Election Day.
12 Public Employee Quarterly Fall 2012