Ohio New Changes to Early Voting
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Secretary of State Jon Husted’s decision last month to limit early-voting hours in Democratic-leaning urban
counties (as hours were expanded in solidly Republican rural and suburban counties) was yet another effort to
restrict the right to vote, particularly for African-American voters who came out for Obama in 2008.
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The chipping away of evening voting hours, and the complete elimination of weekends, by Husted threatens
ballot access for many working people who have difficulty taking time off. Under the new rules, Ohioans can
only vote on weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm (when most people are at work) for the first three weeks of early
voting, and from 8 am to 7 pm for the last two weeks.
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In a democracy it’s the government’s responsibility to keep elections free, fair and accessible for all. By cutting
the evening and weekend voting hours that thousands of Ohio voters successfully used in 2008, Secretary
Husted is doing just the opposite.
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Secretary Husted has no legitimate arguments for cutting early voting hours. This is about manipulating election
laws – and trying to block the votes of Black Ohio voters – for partisan gain. Some conservatives have even come
clean: Doug Preisse, chairman of the Republican Party in Ohio’s second-largest county, admitted that cutting
early voting will make it harder for African Americans to access the ballot, and said that the state should not
“accommodate” them.

This year Ohio launched multiple assaults on voting rights, but voter protection organizations are fighting back –
and we’re winning. Last month in Ohio we saw two court decisions blocking the “wrong precinct” law on
provisional ballots and restoring the three days of early voting before Election Day. These decisions were huge
victories for everyone who believes that all eligible voters should have an equal, accessible opportunity to cast a
ballot and have it counted.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others who came before us spent their lives fighting for the right to vote, so that
we could have a voice. We must keep this fight going, and stand up and vote against politicians who are trying to
stop us.
BACKGROUND

In 2008, African-American voters in Ohio especially used early voting. In Franklin County, for example, Black
voters comprise 21 percent of the population but accounted for 52 percent of early voters in 2008. And nearly
half of early voters (48%) in Franklin County in 2008 voted on nights or weekends.
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Now it will be harder for Ohio voters to find a convenient time to vote before Election Day, in order to avoid the
extremely long lines that plagued the state in 2004. That year some voters waited up to 10 hours to cast their
ballots – a hassle that may have swayed the election.
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In 2008, when Obama won the state, nearly 100,000 Ohioans voted during the last three days of early voting.