INTERACTIVE ELECTION GUIDE
Learn more about the candidates on your ballot. Compare them on issues such as taxes, education, and foreign policy. at vote.daytondailynews.com
New Early Voting dates and times
* Weeks One and Two of Voting (beginning Oct. 7)
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on each weekday (Monday through Friday)
* Week Three of Voting
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on each weekday (Monday through Friday)
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday
* Week Four of Voting
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on each weekday (Monday through Friday)
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Saturday before the election
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Sunday before the election
* Week of Election Day
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Monday before the election
Source: Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday delayed the start of early voting in Ohio scheduled to begin today.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices blocked an order issued earlier this month by U.S. District Court Judge Peter C. Economus that would have given voters the chance to vote early 35 days before the election — meaning Tuesday — instead of 28 guaranteed by the state law.
Because the order will be in effect for 90 days, the ruling means that this November’s elections will be conducted under the Ohio law as outlined by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.
Early voting in Ohio now begins on Oct. 7.
Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have upheld Economus’ ruling, but they were outvoted by the five conservative justices. The high court ruling will remain in effect until the court issues a ruling on an appeal by the state on the merits of the law.
Husted praised the ruling.
“Today’s ruling validates what I have long said, elections in Ohio should be run by the same rules in every county and Ohioans should have the right to make those rules through their elected representatives,” Husted said.
“We are gratified the United States Supreme Court has allowed Ohio’s early voting law to stand.”
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed Fitzgerald assailed the ruling, saying it “undermines that fundamental principle and makes it even more difficult for thousands of middle class families across the state of Ohio to make their voices heard this November.”
By contrast, Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, said DeWine was “pleased that a majority” of the justices agreed that “last-minute federal court” changes to the Ohio law “was improper.
Tierney hailed the ruling for protecting all Ohioans’ rights through their elected representatives to determine the state’s voting schedule rather than have the federal courts determine that schedule for them.”
The decision by the justices prevented the major points of Economus’ ruling from going into effect. His order revived the so-called “Golden Week,” when Ohioans can register and vote at the same time, and restoring evening and weekend voting hours.
In his decision, Economus concluded that a Republican-crafted state law reducing early-voting opportunities unconstitutionally and disproportionately affected blacks and the poor, who tend to cast early in-person votes at a greater rate than whites.
His ruling had been a victory for the NAACP Ohio chapter, the Ohio League of Women Voters and a number of African-American churches who had sharply objected to the law.
Husted and DeWine asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block Economus’ ruling. The appeal was sent to Kagan, who handles all emergency appeals from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Ohio.
The state contended that the “injunction is unfair to elections officials and the public. Officials have been planning all year for a different calendar. Officials must now go back to processing registrations during early voting.”
Instead, Husted and DeWine complained that opponents “took two months to sue, and another two to seek an injunction. That delay consumed over half the available time to determine the schedule’s validity, leading to a Sept. 4 injunction ordering Ohio to move up its start-date to that very month.”
But while Kagan wanted to uphold Economus’ ruling, it was clear today that the five conservative justices – Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito – opposed her.
Montgomery County elections officials are concerned that the late change will leave voters confused. The county and League of Women Voters had already announced early voting hours, signs were in place to guide people on parking and 20,000 ballots were ready to go out in the mail in the morning to people who requested them.
“Our main concern is the voters and the confusion and those potential voters tomorrow that do show up to cast their ballot,” said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. “Because the last thing we want is someone to show up tomorrow and then not cast their ballot whenever voting does start.”
Director Jan Kelly said the office always has contingency plans set up and will advise those who show up to vote early of the lawsuit and court ruling.
“We will give them enough information to encourage them to stay in touch and make themselves available to cast their ballot when voting does legally start,” Harsman said.
Both pledge that the office would be ready when voting does begin. And Kelly said so far 25,000 people have asked that ballots be sent to them at home.
Staff writer Lynn Hulsey contributed to this report
About the Author