Ohio has been in the political hot seat of late for alleged suppression of votes, but Athens County seems not to have added any fuel to the fire.
Controversy has arisen over two Ohio voting issues, one regarding early voting hours and the other regarding what happens to votes that are cast in the wrong precinct.
Earlier this month, The New York Times’ editorial board brought to light that Republican-leaning counties extended voting hours, while urban communities that voted Democratic had more limited hours.
After extensive criticism, Ohio Secretary of State John Husted stepped in and made early voting hours uniform across the state during the week, though weekend hours still vary.
In a separate court case, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley struck down Ohio’s 2006 “wrong precinct” law, which rejected provisional ballots that were cast in the incorrect precinct.
Denise Lieberman, senior attorney for the Advancement Project, said both voter issues tie together directly.
“They are for two different parts of the election code,” she said. “Cumulatively, they add up to a conservative effort to suppress voting.”
The applications of both policies to Athens County, however, may not make any dramatic changes.
The Athens County Board of Elections originally planned to close early voting only two hours earlier each day than the new requirements from Husted during the two weeks preceding the November elections.
The shorter hours were also used for the 2008 election and were voted for unanimously by the partisan members of the Board of Elections, said Debbie Quivey, director of the board.
Quivey, a Republican, said her job as director is to try to ensure all voters are taken care of.
“I feel that there is more than enough time for absentee voters the way it had been previously set up,” Quivey said. “Extended hours hurt the other groups of voters, because it cuts into the time we have to work on issues related to them.”
Though Ohio had the second highest number of early ballots in the nation in 2008, the “wrong precinct” law may not have a large effect in Athens either.
About 200,000 provisional ballots were cast, and 14,000 were discarded because of the law, according to a news release from the Advancement Project.
None of the approximately 9,000 provisional ballots in Athens County were discarded for this reason, according to data from Quivey.
Lieberman said both voting policies are used to suppress some demographics from voting, including students, but Pete Couladis, chair of the Athens County Republican Party, said both voting policies are non-issues.
“This is about deceiving people, using the phrase ‘voter suppression,’ ” Couladis said. “They are trying to create an issue out of nothing, saying you’re suppressing voter rights.”
Kathy Hecht, chair of the Athens County Democratic Party, could not be reached for comment.
Both voting issues are highly politicized for partisan gain, said Chase Peterson-Withorn, executive board member of Students for Liberty.
“I don’t see any of these (voting controversies) as surprising,” Peterson-Withorn said. “The two parties have consistently used any means possible to protect their position. The two parties are essentially two sides of the same corrupt coin.”
as299810@ohiou.edu
