REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS DISREGARD THE WILL OF OHIO VOTERS: REJECT AMENDMENT TO RESTORE FINAL WEEKEND VOTING

The following statement may be attributed in whole or in part to Greg Moore, Campaign Director of Fair Elections Ohio, regarding today’s vote by the Ohio House on S.B. 295 (to repeal H.B. 194): 

"Fair Elections Ohio is disappointed that the Ohio House of Representatives has decided to disregard the will of Ohio voters by electing to forgo a full repeal of HB 194. Partisan games trumped an opportunity to roll back Ohio's newest voter suppression law as leaders in the Republican-led Ohio House of Representatives chose to vote down a Democratic sponsored amendment to restore weekend voting. This deliberate disregard of fair play sealed the fate of a full repeal and ignored 500,000 voters who were opposed to HB 194. For all the debate about keeping SB 295 a clean bill for constitutional reasons, we now know the real position of the legislative majority as articulated by State Representative Louis Blessing, who stated that voters don't really matter when it comes to partisan gain: "It doesn't matter what the people do." When legislative leaders begin to place their own partisan political desires above the will of the people, it is a step backward to the days of Tammany Hall. When that attitude is displayed about voting rights, it's an unfortunate step back into a U.S. voting history that no one forgets and for which federal remedies are still enforced in other states.

Fair Elections Ohio cleared a path to a reasonable and peaceable resolution to achieving the ends of its referendum. With today's blatant disrespect of Ohio voters, the state now runs the risk of disenfranchising upwards of 100,000 voters who have traditionally voted during the last three days of Early Voting. With fervent and renewed support from our allies and voters, we will continue our fight for a true repeal of HB 194 and fight to preserve the right of a 'people's veto' for Ohio voters."

Bishop Timothy Clarke Provides A Moral Voice To Stop Voter Suppression

Bishop Timothy J. Clarke, the visionary leader and Senior Pastor of First Church of God in Columbus gives a statement encouraging Ohio lawmakers not to block access to the polls by way of legislation.

Watch It:

Religous Leaders And Voters Call For Restoring Voting Saturday, Sunday And Monday Before Election

COLUMBUS: Religious leaders joined voters today in calling on state lawmakers to reopen the voting booths on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day in November.

"This is a voting rights, a civil rights and a moral issue. Our vote is sacred. In 2008, an estimated 93,000 voters cast their ballots on the three days right before Election Day," said Rev. Timothy C. Ahrens of the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in downtown Columbus. "Politicians need to stop playing games and restore all voting opportunities to Ohioans."

Tasha Jones, a Columbus mother of four who has two jobs and works on Election Day at a voting precinct, said in 2008 she drove fellow church members to vote on the Sunday before the election.

"So many people have died fighting for their right to vote. They were beaten, thrown in jail. I don't take my right to vote lightly. I want to be able to vote early on the final weekend in person," Jones said.

Rev. Dr. Susan K. Smith, senior pastor of Advent United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio, said voters should have easier access to the polls.

"I talk to folks all the time in my congregation. Many are working 2 jobs or more, juggling their lives, taking care of their children. These folks want to vote. African-Americans fought long and hard to get the right to vote; nobody, especially lawmakers, should deny them their right to vote," Rev. Smith said.

Andrew Lin, a junior majoring in sociology at The Ohio State University, said more students would vote, but they are often tied up in class on Election Day Tuesdays.

"I'm from Powell and it would be great to be able to drive home on the weekend before Election Day to vote. I think you would see increased voting numbers among students and younger people if they restored those voting days," Lin said

Bishop Timothy Clarke of First Church of God delivered a statement via video (http://youtu.be/Um5DQAGuS64), adding "the rights of every voter in the state of Ohio must not only be guarded but must be secured against anyone who would seek by any means to suppress them, to deny them, or to stop them from exercising their legal, constitutional rights as citizens."

"Adding the voices of clergy and people of faith to this issue will hopefully make a difference when members of the legislature reconvene on Tuesday to consider the final passage of SB 295," said Greg Moore, Fair Elections Ohio Campaign Director. "The restoration of the last three days of early voting is a simple request that we hope members on both sides of the aisle can fully embrace."

STATEMENT OF FAIR ELECTIONS OHIO ON POLL WORKER ERROR LAWSUIT

"This lawsuit is nothing more than a bootstrap effort to try to achieve what legislative leaders have been unable to accomplish in trying to repeal HB 194, the law that hurts Ohio voting rights. Certain provisions of HB 194, if allowed to become law, would absolve poll worker error in favor of not counting provisional ballots. Ohio legislators are essentially asking the Ohio Supreme Court to tell the Secretary of State that he does not have to follow a federal court decision about poll worker error. HB 194, if allowed to become law, would specify that a poll worker does not have to tell a voter they are in the wrong precinct.  
 
The Ohio Supreme Court cannot tell a federal court what it must do on federal constitutional issues. This is an unfortunate and embarrassing moment for the State of Ohio and a waste of taxpayer dollars.  
 
The Attorney General must, by law, represent both the Secretary of State and the General Assembly. Because he cannot do both, special counsel from a large Cincinnati law firm has been hired to push what appears to be a largely political agenda on behalf of the legislature. Ironically, Ohio taxpayers will be asked to pay the same law firm for this effort that fought against voters' rights in a Sixth Circuit case (See, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless v. Blackwell, Case No. 2:06-cv-00896 in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio) where that court was clear that the Ohio Supreme Court should not interfere with federally decided voting rights.  
 
If the efforts now being waged had instead been used to craft an election bill in HB 194 that was fair to all, Ohioans would not see their taxpayer dollars going to waste or the fairness of their election system being challenged."

Fair Elections Ohio Statement on Senate & HB 194 Repeal

"Once again the Republican-controlled Senate continues to play games with
the voting rights of Ohio voters. Instead of taking the opportunity to pass
a true repeal of both HB 194 and the provisions of HB 224 that eliminated
weekend voting, the Senate chose instead to codify this prohibition with the
passage of HB 295. By voting down a Democratic sponsored amendment in
committee (and on the Senate Floor) they missed the chance to fully repeal
HB 194 and restore the full early voting rights to Ohio voters.

The passage of SB 295 will return Ohio's elections to the days of long lines
on Election Day and voter confusion. Most importantly SB 295 is an attempt
by the legislature to remove the referendum from the ballot and take away an
important constitutional right of voters to have the final say on the issue
this November.

Voting rights and the right to vote on constitutional referenda are not
pawns in a chess game. Both H.B. 194 and now SB 295 as passed by the Senate
are harmful laws that curtail and not expand Ohioans'
voting rights. We urge the House to reject this approach and restore the
full voting rights to voters when they take this bill up in the coming
weeks.

"H.B. 194 has been out of the hands of the legislature since the governor
signed it in July 2011. It has been certified by the Secretary of State for
a November 6th referendum vote for more than three months. It is
discouraging to watch our state legislature waste the public's time and
money debating how it can prevent Ohio voters from having their say on H.B.
194.

"The failure of the legislature in S.B. 295 to restore Ohio's election laws
to what they were before the passage of H.B. 194 demonstrates a motive that
rests more in politics than in policy. If the legislature is truly
interested in restoring voting rights, it would repeal the provisions of
H.B. 224 that were adopted to correct parts of H.B. 194 related to weekend
voting."