Voting Advocacy - Ohio
2008 & 2009 Ohio Elections Summit and Conference
This final report on the 2008 and 2009 Ohio Election Summit and Conference (the “Summits”) was drafted at the request of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, and follows a “preliminary report” originally published on March 9, 2009. It is the product of two historic summits called by Secretary of State Brunner to review the 2008 election and to study ways to improve Ohio’s elections going forward. The Summits were open to the public and focused on a wide variety of election related topics. Discussions were led by election officials, voting rights advocates, academics, and legislators.
Click here to download report as a PDF.
Executive Summary | Complete Appendices
Next Steps to Reform.
Framework for Reform: Priority Issues.
Selected related documents.
Modernizing Ohio’s System for Registering Voters: Automatic & Online Registration
This preliminary report examines Ohio’s current voter registration system, and recommends that Ohio adopt automatic and online voter registration.
Download Preliminary Report (pdf)
Republican Party of Ohio v. Secretary Brunner
On September 26, 2008, the Ohio Republican Party asked a federal court to issue an emergency ruling requiring the state to generate a list of more than 200,000 new voters whose information did not match other state records, presumably so those voters could be purged from the rolls right before the election, forced to vote provisional ballots, or challenged at the polls. They asked the court before the absentee ballots cast by new registrants were opened and counted. A federal court granted the temporary restraining order, and after a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stayed that order, the full appeals court, sitting en banc, reinstated it. The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit, supporting the request for a stay.
On emergency review, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the TRO on October 17, 2008, preventing chaos in the election in Ohio and protecting hundreds of thousands of Ohio citizens from disenfranchisement-by-typo. That same day, one of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit filed a virtually identical suit with the Ohio Supreme Court, seeking essentially the same relief they lost in the federal courts. He also asked the court to prevent the counting of absentee ballots cast by unmatched voters unless or until the mismatches are cleared. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit on October 21, 2008, and on October 22, 2008, the Secretary of State issued two directives, which ensure that (1) no voter may be challenged at the polls solely on the basis of a mis-match; and (2) no absentee ballot may be rejected (or not counted) solely on the basis of a mis-match. Despite these directives and the failure of the efforts in court, Representative John Boehner of Ohio wrote to President Bush asking him to pressure the Department of Justice to weigh in on the issue. President Bush forwarded the request to Attorney General Mukasey, but press reports have indicated that the Attorney General will refrain from getting involved.
Twelve Ohio Counties
Twelve Ohio counties released sample paper ballots that split the presidential contest over two columns for this November's election. As the Brennan Center's study found, this particular layout often confuses voters and causes them to double-vote, an action which ultimately results in an uncounted ballot. On September 17, 2008, the Brennan Center sent a letter to the board of elections in all Ohio counties, urging them to reconsider their ballot layout and place the presidential contest in a single column on the paper ballot. The Ohio Secretary of State forwarded the letter to all county board of elections as well. Further details can be found here.
AccuVote TSX Memo
On October 23, 2008, the Brennan Center sent a memo to all Ohio counties outlining concerns over the use of AccuVote TSX voting machines.
Selected Documents
Documents
Ohio Association of Election Officials Endorses Report (4/7/2009)
Press
Editorial: A Better Way, Columbus Dispatch (11/14/2009)
Election Bill Aims at Vote Disputes, Columbus Dispatch (11/14/2009)
Lawrence Norden: Voter Registration Reform Could Dampen Disputes, Columbus Dispatch (10/29/2009)
Ken Blackwell: Time for a Big Overhaul, Washington Times (10/05/2009)
Editorial: A vote of confidence, Columbus Dispatch (3/19/2009)
Report: Ohio Must Update Voter Lists, Columbus Dispatch (4/8/2009)
Election reform needs support, Ironton Tribune (4/9/2009)
Editorial: Sound reforms, Columbus Dispatch (4/12/2009)
Ohio must fix voting problems, Beacon Tribune (4/12/2009)
Ohio still improving elections process, (Sec. Brunner Editorial) Ironton Tribune (4/30/2009)
Testimony
Testimony of Lawrence Norden Regarding Ohio H.B. 260, the "Elections Enhancements Bill" (10/14/2009)