Voting, Disputes Get Off to an Early Start in Ohio

September 28, 2008

By Amy Merrick
Wall Street Journal

The fight for Ohio's 20 electoral votes begins Tuesday.

With a recent state law vastly expanding the absentee-voting process for this presidential election, county boards of elections are gearing up for thousands of early ballots. They are adding staff, relocating polling places to larger venues and running commercials to encourage early voting. Lawsuits already are flying over a one-week window starting Tuesday during which voters can register and cast their ballots on the same day.Election officials this time around are hoping to avoid the hours-long lines and other problems connected to the huge turnout in 2004, when President George W. Bush narrowly defeated Sen. John Kerry in Ohio. In Franklin County, which includes Columbus, officials are expecting 200,000 absentee votes, by mail and in person.

In Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati, the county Democratic Party is sending dozens of officials and candidates en masse to the polls Tuesday to publicize the early-voting kickoff. County Republicans have sent mailings to supporters and have been making phone calls for weeks urging early voting.

Republicans' absentee ballots in Hamilton County have outnumbered Democrats' 3-to-1 in past elections, said Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the county Republican Party. But that ratio may not hold this year. "We're all grappling with, what does it mean when a third of the electorate is going to vote before Election Day?" Mr. Triantafilou said.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has distributed early-voting information in hundreds of Ohio barber shops and beauty salons. It is planning concerts and speeches on college campuses, and it is considering handing out tickets to the events near polling places to encourage early voting, a spokesman said.

Democrats and Republicans are battling over whether voters will be allowed to register and vote on the same day, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6. Republican officials argue that the practice violates state law. A lawsuit is pending at the state supreme court in Columbus.

The American Civil Liberties Union also filed a federal suit in Cleveland after Madison County, in central Ohio, said it won't allow voters to register and vote at the same time. In Miami County, in southwestern Ohio, the board of elections decided to permit simultaneous registration and voting, but it will segregate such ballots in "secrecy envelopes," pending any court rulings.

Source: The Wall Street Journal