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Advocacy Blog
Friday, October 27, 2006
ID Rule for Absentee Voting is Blocked in Ohio
A federal judge yesterday ruled that voters in Ohio will not have to meet identification rules if voting absentee, agreeing with the groups that filed suit that the law is vague and applied differently throughout the state. Earlier this week two groups, the Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, filed a lawsuit to block the new law regarding voter identification. These groups claim that each county board of elections were applying the new laws in different ways, accepting different driver license numbers and accepting a varied type of identification, from social security card to military ID. The judge's decision will be in effect until November 1, when a full hearing will take place to decide whether the ID requirements will be enforced on Election Day.
Lawyers for a Cleveland homeless group and a Columbus-based union local argued during a two-hour hearing Thursday that proper identification for absentee voters depended on what county a voter was in - and sometimes even which election board worker they dealt with in their county. The new Ohio voter ID rules require voters to confirm their identity by presenting photo ID cards, utility bills or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer story can be read here.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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