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Ohio GOP asks federal judge to act on provisional ballots
The legal battles continue between Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and the Ohio Republican Party, even on Election Day.
The Associated Press reported today, Nov. 4, that the Ohio GOP filed a complaint asking a federal judge to require that provisional ballots be verified and counted the same statewide.
Republicans said they are concerned provisional ballots will be handled differently, the AP reported. Provisional ballots are those cast by voters whose registration has has been questioned.
The ballots are held for 10 days while elections workers check voter eligibility before they are counted.
Republicans said Brunner had issued “vague and confusing instructions” on handling provisional ballots and “actually seemed to encourage local officials to overlook non-matching signatures” of voters, according to the AP.
Brunner, who has already been in several legal battles with the GOP, responded in a prepared statement
“While Ohioans are voting with confidence in record numbers, partisan attempts to re-litigate issues that have been decided by the Ohio Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court are troubling.
“Rather than focus on these distractions, we applaud the great work of our bipartisan elections officials who are helping Ohio voters see the success of our preparation for this election.”
Dayton Daily News Columbus Bureau reporter Laura A. Bischoff reports that Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, both downplayed the lawsuit’s significance.
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