Experts can analyze potential impact of two new lawsuits

COLUMBUS – Two new voting rights lawsuits have been filed in federal court in Ohio.

In the first, a Cincinnati voter brought a lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell concerning provisional voting. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Schering v. Blackwell, Case No. 1:04-cv-755). It alleges that Secretary Blackwell has failed to provide guidance that will ensure the \"uniform and consistent counting of these potentially determinative provisional ballots.\" The complaint asserts that, under Bush v. Gore, the failure to provide clear and uniform standards for counting votes denies equal protection. Secretary Blackwell has issued some guidelines (Directive 2004-48) regarding the counting of provisional ballots, but the complaint alleges that those guidelines are \"vague, incomplete, and insufficient to assure uniform evaluation and counting of provisional ballots throughout the state.\"

The second lawsuit, arising from long lines in Franklin and Knox counties, alleges that these counties failed to provide enough voting machines at polling places. It asks that voters be given the option of a paper ballot if they are in lines with wait times longer than two hours.

Legal experts from the Moritz College of Law’s Election Law at Moritz, including Professors Ned Foley, Daniel Tokaji, Ruth Colker, Steven Huefner, john powell and Terri Enns, are available to discuss these lawsuits and others that may be filed as Election Day comes to a close.

In addition, Political Science Professors Herb Asher, Herb Weisberg and Dean Lacy can analyze voting behavior and the day’s trends.