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What is everyone's take on the new early voting in Ohio?

6 posts
  1. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    8/6/2012 3:08 PM
    ..Romney, Obama campaigns battle over Ohio early voting.
    .By Rachel Rose Hartman, Yahoo! News
    Political Reporter

    Mitt Romney and his staff are accusing President Barack Obama of threatening the ability of military personnel to vote early in Ohio following the administration's decision to sue the state over new early voting laws.

    The Democratic lawsuit aims to restore early voting rights for all Ohio voters, but Republicans are crying foul.

    "We disagree with the basic premise that it is 'arbitrary' and unconstitutional to give three extra days of in-person early voting to military voters and their families, and believe it is a dangerous and offensive argument for President Obama and the DNC [Democratic National Committee] to make," Katie Biber, general counsel for the Romney campaign wrote in a memo issued Sunday. "It is despicable for the Obama campaign to challenge Ohio's lawful decision."

    The memo follows comments issued by Romney on Saturday denouncing the Obama administration's actions. "President Obama's lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state's early voting period is an outrage," Romney said in a statement in which he pledged to stand with the 15 military groups defending the state law.

    But Obama staffers say the Romney campaign is "completely false and misleading" in its characterizations.

    "What that lawsuit calls for is not to deprive the military of the right to vote on the final weekend of the campaign—of course they should have that right," Obama's top campaign adviser David Axelrod told host Chis Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "What that suit is about is whether the rest of Ohio should have that same right. And I think it's shameful that Gov. Romney would hide behind our servicemen and women to try and win a lawsuit to try to deprive other Ohioans of the right to vote."

    Wallace noted that 15 military groups oppose the lawsuit, including the National Guard Association. But Axelrod suggested they are misinformed. "They need to look at the lawsuit and they need to know that that lawsuit stands up for the right of military service people to vote early but it wants that right for everybody in Ohio," Axelrod said. He then accused Republicans of trying to shrink voting participation.

    The Obama campaign on Sunday emailed reporters with multiple headlines covering the back and forth over Ohio's law under the headline: "SNAPSHOT: Mitt Romney's False Claims About Early Voting for Military Service Members in Ohio."

    Obama for America, the DNC and the Ohio Democratic Party filed a lawsuit on July 17 in U.S. District Court against the Ohio secretary of state over a new state law Democrats argue illegally deprives nonmilitary voters of early voting privileges. The lawsuit seeks to restore early voting rights for all Ohioans.

    "Ohio election law, as currently enacted by the State of Ohio and administered by Defendant Ohio Secretary of State, arbitrarily eliminates early voting during the three days prior to Election Day for most Ohio voters, a right previously available to all Ohio voters," the lawsuit states.

    [View the lawsuit here via the Election Law Blog (pdf).]

    The Republican-sponsored law ends early in-person voting for nonmembers of the military three days prior to Election Day this November, eliminating early voting on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday leading up to Nov. 6.

    Romney's campaign, select military groups defending Ohio's law and others say that special consideration and flexibility for military voters is wholly constitutional and helps secure the right to vote for the military amid the added challenges they face.

    Ohio is a key swing state Obama narrowly carried in 2008 by 4 percentage points, or 207,000 votes. The Democratic lawsuit states that in 2008, 93,000 voters in Ohio took advantage of in-person early voting in the three days leading up to the election.

    I wonder what you all think about this? I have already had the discussion with a high school friend on facebook, just to make sure they understood that the President and the democrates where not wanting to take away military people's ability to vote, just wanted it for everyone. I had tried to pursade them that what about those hard working nurses, doctors, hospital employees, police and fire that could have odd schedules as well. Remember only 3 months until the election.

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  2. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    8/7/2012 9:08 AM
    The Obama administration has polling data that shows the military vote will go nearly 3 to 1 against him. This country should do everything in its power to ensure the military vote is included. Using the excuse that the extension must go to every voter is dishonest to say the least. The average voter is not overseas on enemy soil. You can pretty well figure that anything Axelrod says is intended to help Obama rather it is the truth or in his case not! When you look back at Obama's previous elections, ever campaign resulted in a sex scandal smear against his opponent. Every scandal was initiated by Axelrod. The guy is a slime ball.



  3. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    8/7/2012 3:08 PM
    Sandy Clark, CGCS said: The Obama administration has polling data that shows the military vote will go nearly 3 to 1 against him. This country should do everything in its power to ensure the military vote is included. Using the excuse that the extension must go to every voter is dishonest to say the least. The average voter is not overseas on enemy soil. You can pretty well figure that anything Axelrod says is intended to help Obama rather it is the truth or in his case not! When you look back at Obama's previous elections, ever campaign resulted in a sex scandal smear against his opponent. Every scandal was initiated by Axelrod. The guy is a slime ball.


    Sandy this isn't about those serving overseas, where they would vote by absentee, which in most cases never get counted. This is for military personnel that might be training that weekend before or be scheduled to work in the early voting period. I compare these military personnel to be similar to doctors, nurses, police and fire personnel who work odd shifts. Heck it could even extend to us in this line of business.

    As a reminder, they are not asking to take the military personnel's right to vote away, they (Democrats and Obama campaign) just think everyone should be able to vote early. I can see some political fallout with this, it is my understanding that many in the black communities tended to vote early on Sunday's after church, (that's if I understood the story correctly.) So I am sure that is part of the issue as well, these people would tend to vote democrat in most cases, just like you say a majority of military would vote for republican.

    So can anyone tell me why one set of citizens (and let me say, I am all for supporting the military, maybe we should concentrate more on providing benefits they've earned) should have more of a right to vote then another? I thought we were all created equal? If someone can answer that and convince me, I would support it, I just don't see why one group is treated differently then another on this privilege that we all should be taking part in.

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  4. Sandy Clark
    Sandy Clark avatar
    0 posts
    8/8/2012 10:08 AM
    In California, you can go to the Registrar's office and vote several days before the election and absentee ballots can be sent in well before election day. I would think most every state provides multiple options to vote but I would certainly cut slack for all military rather it be on a base or overseas. Anyone can request an absentee ballot so this entire thing shouldn't be a big issue.



  5. Melvin Waldron
    Melvin Waldron avatar
    43 posts
    8/8/2012 3:08 PM
    Sandy Clark, CGCS said: In California, you can go to the Registrar's office and vote several days before the election and absentee ballots can be sent in well before election day. I would think most every state provides multiple options to vote but I would certainly cut slack for all military rather it be on a base or overseas. Anyone can request an absentee ballot so this entire thing shouldn't be a big issue.


    I can agree with you Sandy, there are multiple avenues to vote, then why did the republicans in Ohio change the law as it was and only exempt military? If the law was ok before.....just saying.

    Mel

    Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO

  6. McCallum David K
    McCallum David K avatar
    8/9/2012 6:08 AM
    In most places voting is really not that hard to do. Louisiana changed the old absentee voting (which you were supposed to have an excuse to do so) to early voting. Have not gone to the polls on election day since the Nov of '08. To easy to stop on the way home at 3:30 in the afternoon and walk in and vote in 1 minute or less. The only persons with an excuse about having it difficult to vote should be our military due to deployment. The process should not be hard, just the fact of where they are.



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