Community Corner

Clyde Calls for Early Voting Extension

State representative wants voters to have option to vote on Monday before all elections

On the eve of the primary election, State Rep. Kathleen Clyde is calling for an extension of early voting.

Clyde sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted Friday urging an extension of early voting so voters can cast their ballots on the Monday prior to any election.

Clyde's letter is below:

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Dear Secretary Husted,

Last fall, I expressed my concerns about your decision to eliminate the three busiest days of in-person early voting.  Today, I write to again express my concerns with this action.  There is no basis in the law to end early voting three days early.  Such actions implement harmful provisions from HB 194, which is on hold due to the pending referendum.  Eliminating these early voting opportunities directly frustrates the voters’ right of referendum enshrined in the Ohio Constitution. Voters will be harmed by confusion over the early voting period as they undoubtedly were in November 2011.  Finally, your decision creates a brand new Equal Protection problem by having two different early voting end dates for similarly situated voters. All Ohio voters should have equal access to in-person early voting through Monday before Election Day. 

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Enclosed, please find my letter from last fall detailing our continuing concerns with your actions. I request that you provide my office and the public with a copy of the law as you are interpreting it.  You have indicated that you followed the Attorney General’s opinion to implement HB 224 to cut off early voting, yet the state’s online Ohio Revised Code and other public sources have not published the code in accordance with the Attorney General’s opinion.  Therefore, your office is the only source for the law as you have chosen to interpret it and, as the custodian of the laws of this state, you have a duty to provide that to the public. 

I ask that you instruct the Boards of Elections to allow in-person early voting to continue for all voters during business hours between now and the close of business on Monday, March 5, 2012.

Respectfully,

Kathleen Clyde


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