Ohio voter rights being stolen now

Posted by Renee in Ohio | Jan 31, 2006 | 17 |

[From the diaries by susanhu. Why is shockingly obvious! HELP RENEE!]

The phone just rang, and I heard my husband saying, “What?! That’s insane!” When he got off the phone, he informed me that the call was from the mother of one of our daughter’s classmates, telling us about a protest that is going on right now. I had no idea about the part of H.B. 3 that you see below in boldface, until we got this call and I went Googling for it:

Demonstration at the Ohio Statehouse at noon to raise our voices against House Bill 3, the bill that will require showing an ID to vote and preventing any challenge to the results of a federal election in Ohio.

Location:Ohio Statehouse, Broad and High Streets, west lawn.

I have no idea if there is anything that can be done at this point, but at very least I wanted to make some noise about this. If anyone has any ideas about how we can respond at this late hour, please share them.

About The Author

Renee in Ohio

17 Comments

joan reports on January 31, 2006 at 1:44 pm

at dkos. It’s mind boggling. I cannot imagine who this would be constitutional, “equal protections” and all. Then again, the SCOTUS has not been too helpful in federal elections recently …
- maryb2004 on January 31, 2006 at 1:58 pm
  
  Oh, you might be too hard on the supremes.
  
  The supreme court found that equal protection is important in presidential elections.
  
  But, oh yeah, the case in which they addressed that issue was Bush v. Gore and they specifically said it wouldn’t apply to any other election.
Dean Pajevic on January 31, 2006 at 1:51 pm

Renee, can you add a link to the quote?
- Renee in Ohio on January 31, 2006 at 1:58 pm
  
  Thanks for front-paging this, Susan. I have been scrambling to find more about this ever since we got that phone call. I’ve posted some links in the comments here. I knew before about the voter ID piece, but not the part about forbidding recounts. Demetrius found the actual bill, and it’s pretty damn long. I’m working on finding more links, and will post shortly.
  
  Here’s one link with a lot about the bill, from Common Cause
  
  H.B. 3 is not improving, and in fact, the more we review the legislation, the worse it becomes. While we raised initial concerns over the burdensome identification requirements (in the Senate version), we’ve recently uncovered several other provisions would hurt Ohio voters:
  
  * Changes in the voter registration process that will remove eligible voters from the registration list;
  * Changes the casting and counting of provisional ballots that will dramatically increase the number of provisional ballots used;
  * The inclusion of provisions that will allow poll workers to challenge a voter’s registration without prior notification, enabling poll workers to discriminate against any voter, and;
  * The elimination of federal election contests, allowing no recourse for dealing with fraud, mistakes, or voting irregularities.
  
  All of these changes will all dramatically decrease the transparency, accessibility and accountability of Ohio elections, which is pretty ironic and shocking, given what Ohio citizens have been through…the troubled 2004 election, Wally O’Dell’s statement that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president,” and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation/Coingate scandal that has scandalized state and local elected officials and undermined the public trust.
  - Dean Pajevic on January 31, 2006 at 2:15 pm
    
    Renee, do you need an attorney’s help?
    
    Steven D is at a funeral today. I could call on some other attorneys who post here — if they’re able.
    
    Let me know.
alohaleezy on January 31, 2006 at 1:54 pm

Just another day in the Kingdom! Sorry, don’t mean to be so flippant. How can I help? I am at your service. This WILL effect us all eventually. Guess they are counting on what they set up to win Ohio in’04 to continue to help them in ’08.
- Renee in Ohio on January 31, 2006 at 2:06 pm
  
  Not quite as flippant as some of the responses to the diary I did at Kos–the gist of them being to move out of Ohio, because it’s hopeless. But you make the important point that this is not just going to affect Ohioans. The last presidential election came down to this one state. This affects everybody.
  
  Someone just gave me this link
  http://jenniferbrunner.com/petition.asp
  
  Jennifer Brunner is running for Secretary of State. But the message on the petition says nothing about the recount issue.
  
  Sign the petition to oppose House Bill 3
  
  This bill will mandate that voters present an ID before voting. Voters without ID will be forced to vote a provisional ballot that may not be counted.
  
  Fill out this petition and we will deliver it to Governor Bob Taft and tell him to veto this bill. (All fields required for successful submission.)
  
  My feeling, from what I have read this morning, is that the part disallowing recounts is hidden in pages and pages of legalese.
Demetrius on January 31, 2006 at 2:02 pm

Somewhere in this mountain of words is, apparently, the meat of HB3.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText126/126_HB_3_RS_N.html
- Paul Rosenberg on January 31, 2006 at 10:21 pm
  
  Sec. 3515.08. The (A) Except as otherwise provided in this division, the nomination or election of any person to any public office or party position or the approval or rejection of any issue or question, submitted to the voters, may be contested by qualified electors of the state or a political subdivision. The nomination or election of any person to any federal office, including the office of elector for president and vice president and the office of member of congress, shall not be subject to a contest of election conducted under this chapter. Contests of the nomination or election of any person to any federal office shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of federal law.
Renee in Ohio on January 31, 2006 at 2:22 pm

More…

Ohio GOP poised to gut election protection on way to permanent national domination
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2006/1754
- Renee in Ohio on January 31, 2006 at 2:23 pm
  
  I found that link via this site, by the way
  http://www.ohiohonestelections.org/
switzerblog on January 31, 2006 at 2:29 pm

The amazing thing is, this was discussed repeatedly in many places – it wasn’t really secret!

This just underscores how, no matter how well-developed the blogosphere feels (and really, it is), we have so much work ahead of us to keep people informed of the egregious assaults on our freedoms coming from these people. Because even Renee, who I know is well-informed, missed something that was being talked about, and talked about a lot, prior to last year’s election.
- Dean Pajevic on January 31, 2006 at 2:46 pm
  
  Switzer, how can we help Renee?
  
  God knows we owe her for all she did for Howard Dean.
- Dean Pajevic on January 31, 2006 at 2:47 pm
  
  P.S. I did forward your diary, Renee, and its link to major news sources… hope it helps. I’ll see if any of them link you.
  - Dean Pajevic on January 31, 2006 at 3:19 pm
    
    No links yet 🙁
Renee in Ohio on January 31, 2006 at 3:27 pm

Update–I just found this post about the anti H.B. 3 rally at Democratic Underground

Boy did I just have fun! A group of us in Columbus Ohio were out to protest OH HB 3, the GOP voter suppression legislation at the Ohio Statehouse, First on High Street side then in front of the Columbus Dispatch (aka Columbus Disgrace) , then in front of the Federal Building and finally we meandered through town until we ended at the RNC Headquarters. We held signs and yelled slogans such as:

“HB 3, Good for the GOP, Bad for Democracy”

“Jail to the Thief”

“Support the Troops, Fire the Commander in Thief”

“If the GOP can win legitimately why the need to steal elections?”

“Money for Body Armour not Halliburton”

and of course assorted other (un)nice-ities.

It felt great! Some local joined in. Then finally two goons came out and asked for our permit (which , of course we didn’t need as we were not blocking the entry or sidewalk). A policeman finally came and very politely told us what we were doing was perfectly legal within our rights. He reminded us not to block entry and pedestrians and said he would go inside and let the RNC know. We stayed a little longer and then went on our merry way. Boy, was that a release of steam after Alito and OH HB 3. We decided to make it a weekly. I highly recommend this activity to all with pent us frustration!

PS It passed along party lines-surprised?
viget on January 31, 2006 at 3:59 pm

Seriously though, how is this constitutional at all?

Not only the equal protection under the law claims, but what about your constitutional right to petition for redress of the government? Not allowing voter-instigated challenges to an election would seem to fly in the face of that, no?

As usual, I’m sure the devil’s in the details. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not outlawed, but the fees are just too exorbitant.