Promoting and protecting nonprofit advocacy for a stronger democracy

Friday, September 01, 2006

Federal Court Blocks Ohio Law Restricting Nonprofit Voter Education Drives

CLEVELAND, OH - A federal court in Cleveland blocked enforcement of an Ohio state law enacted earlier this year that would have imposed crippling requirements on voter registration groups. The plaintiffs, civic and religious organizations and voting rights groups that have been working in Ohio through many election cycles without government interference, say that the law had dramatically curtailed their efforts to help eligible voters get on the rolls....

The plaintiffs contested a procedure required by the Ohio Secretary of State that would have changed the process for returning voter registration forms collected by non-partisan civic groups conducting voter registration drives. In the past, citizens working to register voters were able to turn in the completed forms to a civic group or church that would review the forms for accuracy, turn them into the registrar, and follow up later to make sure the voter was actually registered. The rule enjoined today would have made it a crime to designate one person to hand in the forms collected in a drive; each volunteer or worker would have had to go personally to the election offices to deliver every form collected.

Plaintiffs also successfully argued that rules that require online training excluded low-income citizens and civic groups who don't have computers, as well as individuals with disabilities.