Federal judge's ruling will not intervene in mailing of absentee ballots; counties effected include Highland
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Federal judge has "declined to intervene in the state's process for absentee voting," clearing the way for Highland County, and other counties, "to move forward with their plans for mailing absentee ballots to voters starting Tuesday," according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The lawsuit, The Dispatch wrote, "sought a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to require all counties to follow the same procedures, but Judge Susan J. Dlott of U.S. District Court in Cincinnati denied that motion in a ruling issued today. The lawsuit argued that voters who live in counties that do not mail applications or provide return postage lack the same opportunity to participate in elections as voters in counties that do."
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has said that the state cannot ensure uniformity in voting conditions in all 88 counties, and the judge agreed in the decision.
"(Plaintiffs) have not shown, at least at this stage of the litigation, that the relative inconvenience of having to request an absentee ballot application and pay postage to return the application and ballot rises to the level of a deprivation of the right to participate in elections on an equal basis," Dlott wrote.
According to the Dispatch, "The four individuals who filed the lawsuit live in Highland, Butler, Lawrence and Clinton counties, which are not mailing applications. Ralph Vanzant, 69, who lives in Hillsboro, has said he joined the lawsuit because he is a quadriplegic and prefers voting absentee. He doesn't think it is fair that he isn't mailed an application when other voters are."
Brunner's office said that some counties lacked the funding to mail the applications, and that it would cost an estimated $3.5 million for each Ohio registered voter to be mailed an application.
A federal judge has "declined to intervene in the state's process for absentee voting," clearing the way for Highland County, and other counties, "to move forward with their plans" regarding mailing - or not mailing - absentee ballots to voters starting Tuesday, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The lawsuit, The Dispatch wrote, "sought a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to require all counties to follow the same procedures, but Judge Susan J. Dlott of U.S. District Court in Cincinnati denied that motion in a ruling issued today. The lawsuit argued that voters who live in counties that do not mail applications or provide return postage lack the same opportunity to participate in elections as voters in counties that do."
The lawsuit, The Dispatch wrote, "sought a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to require all counties to follow the same procedures, but Judge Susan J. Dlott of U.S. District Court in Cincinnati denied that motion in a ruling issued today. The lawsuit argued that voters who live in counties that do not mail applications or provide return postage lack the same opportunity to participate in elections as voters in counties that do."
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has said that the state cannot ensure uniformity in voting conditions in all 88 counties, and the judge agreed in the decision.
"(Plaintiffs) have not shown, at least at this stage of the litigation, that the relative inconvenience of having to request an absentee ballot application and pay postage to return the application and ballot rises to the level of a deprivation of the right to participate in elections on an equal basis," Dlott wrote.
According to the Dispatch, "The four individuals who filed the lawsuit live in Highland, Butler, Lawrence and Clinton counties, which are not mailing applications. Ralph Vanzant, 69, who lives in Hillsboro, has said he joined the lawsuit because he is a quadriplegic and prefers voting absentee. He doesn't think it is fair that he isn't mailed an application when other voters are."
Brunner's office said that some counties lacked the funding to mail the applications, and that it would cost an estimated $3.5 million for each Ohio registered voter to be mailed an application.
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