Judge enters Order in NEOHC v Blackwell (re: provisionals in OH)

[mod mom]

November 14, 2006

full text and original document at: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/news/articles.php?ID=60

Late today Judge Algenon Marbley of the federal district court here in Columbus entered an order agreed upon by the parties in NEOHC v. Blackwell. The order, a little over four pages in length, sets forth some basic procedures regarding the evaluation and counting of provisional ballots that were cast anywhere in Ohio last Tuesday.

Acknowledging that “some poll workers incorrectly required voters” to cast a provisional ballot even when they presented appropriate ID in accordance with the court’s previous consent order, including by failing to accept a driver’s license as a valid ID even when it did not contain the voter’s current address, the new order mandates that these provisional ballots “shall automatically be counted as regular ballots.” Otherwise, the new order reiterates that county boards of elections should follow the previous consent order’s “eight-factor” test for determining whether a provisional ballot qualifies to be counted.

The new order also provides for partisan observers to monitor the provisional ballot evaluation and counting process in accordance with Ohio’s statutes. Observers may review the list of provisional ballots rejected for inadequate identification. The order, by its terms, does not extend to observers this right of review when provisional ballots are rejected for other reasons. But at any meeting of a county elections board where the board will consider the recommendation to reject a provisional ballot, the observers may object to the recommendation.

One interesting, and potentially significant, feature of the new order is that it states: “The Board’s decision regarding whether a provisional ballot shall be counted shall be final except as otherwise provided by Ohio law.” This sentence presumably would permit a challenge to the rejection of a provisional ballot as a part of an election contest in state court, where the losing candidate attempts to overturn the outcome of an election on the ground that valid votes were excluded from the final count. Under Ohio law, as recently revised by the General Assembly a contest of this kind may be brought to challenge the result of an election for a state office, such as Auditor, but not for an election to federal office, such as U.S. Representative.

[mod mom]

1. P. Voters have until Friday to Provide necessary info + should call their BOE...

Voters have through Friday to provide any information necessary and should call their BOE to make sure their provisional ballot was validated. A complete directory of boards of election throughout the state is here:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/ElectionsVoter/OhioElections.aspx?Section=boeDir
As we know from past experience some voters may have forgotten to sign their name, include their address, and so forth

Because Judge Marbley issued on November 14th an Enforcement Order regarding provisional ballots, any problems are subject to review by the court. His November 1st order should offer similar protection to absentee ballots.

Additional Information for OH-02

Voters in the 2nd congressional district in SW Ohio can contact Jessica Tribbe <[e-mail]> at the Wulsin campaign, [phone], who is monitoring provisional votes.

[texpatriot2004]

2. K & R for Transparent Democracy nm