Democrats are not giving up on the fight to restore some of the weekend voting opportunities that have been wiped out by the Republican dominated Ohio legislature during the past year.Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is holding a hearing in which he could possibly fire the two Democratic members of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Early Friday, those two members voted to have weekend voting hours, defying an earlier directive from Husted. The Secretary of State has instructed all 88 county boards of elections to hold uniform hours for in person early voting with no weekend elections but the Montgomery County Democrats want weekend voting. Supporters of the Democratic members of the board plan to be on hand to rally before the meeting. Democrats statewide have been calling for weekend voting hours....even suing to get some on the last weekend before Election Day. In 2008, when weekend voting was legal, 93 thousand Ohioans went to the polls on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day. It’s widely believed many of those voters helped put President Obama in the White House. But since then, Republicans have taken control of the legislature and every statewide elected office, and passed laws that eliminate weekend voting. The G OP notes there are plenty of other early voting options. The political fight is getting hotter by the minute. Over the weekend, The Columbus Dispatch reported the head of the Franklin County Republican Party, Doug Preiss, said...quote..."I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban - read African American - voter turnout machine...unquote.
