pudge's Journal: Dem Ohio Secretary of State Denies Legal Ballot Requests from Republicans

It sounds crazy, but it's true.

Ohio law allows anyone to request an absentee ballot on any piece of paper they wish, as long as they include certain information. You include that information, and it checks out, then you get an absentee ballot. Period. That's the law.

The McCain/Palin campaign has provided forms which has all that information, a form that has been used in Ohio many times in the past. In addition to the required information, there's a checkbox next to the statement "I am a qualified elector." This checkbox has nothing to do with Ohio state law.

But Ohio's Democratic Secretary of State said that the forms shall not be honored if the checkbox is not checked. Even though the box is unneeded, by not checking it voters are essentially admitting they're not eligible, Brunner said.

Perhaps the voter is simply aware of the law that does not require that checkbox? Or perhaps the voter is confused about what "qualified elector" means? Or maybe they've filled it out in the past, and know that it has been accepted without the check?

Her argument is basically that the law requires a "statement that the person requesting the ballots is a qualified elector." She is arguing that if the checkbox were not there, it would be a legal form, but since it is there, it needs to be checked to be legal. Even though the law doesn't require it.

It's absolute insanity. She is an elected Democrat clearly trying to disenfranchise explicitly Republican voters ... and doing so at a huge cost to taxpayers, as the state officials are required to notify each voter who left off the checkbox and mail them a new form.

Thankfully, the McCain campaign is suing her.

(Oh, and if you're a Democrat thinking "well, the Republicans stole Ohio in 2004!," no, in fact, they didn't.)

Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.

Crazier still...

[Cyberdyne]

The first coverage of this I saw was claiming that including that box was, in fact, an Evil Republikan Plot(TM) to disenfranchise Democrats. Much like the argument in 2000 that Florida's ballot being "confusing" skewed it against Democrat voters because they're less able to figure out confusing documents than Republican voters, the bias was apparently that it would be mostly would-be Democrat voters who failed to read the form and check that box. Her position is certainly crazy and a waste of money, so I ho