A state legislator from Cincinnati wants the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the 2012 election in Ohio to ensure fairness.
Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday asking him to send federal elections monitors to watch over polling in Ohio this November.
Reece’s letter points to what she calls potential voter confusion resulting from two federal court decisions over provisional ballots and in-person early voting — decisions that have been appealed by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.
“We need to ensure that Ohio has a smooth and fair election this November,” Reece wrote in an emailed statement.
“These two federal court decisions are a step in the right direction for voters in Ohio, but the appeals processes are confusing for voters. The presence of federal elections monitors will help restore the integrity of the voting process. The entire country is looking at Ohio.”
The first court decision ruled that county boards of elections must count certain defective ballots if the mistakes were caused by poll worker error. U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley ordered Husted to issue provisional ballot envelopes with a checklist for poll workers to follow.
Husted has argued that allowing those ballots to be counted conflicts with existing Ohio law that does not allow defective provisional ballots to be counted.
The second court decision required Husted to allow in-person early voting for the three days leading up to the Nov. 6 election.
Husted had issued a directive to all 88 Ohio counties to not allow voting on those days, and then ordered county boards to suspend in-person early voting while he appealed the court’s ruling. He rescinded that order after the judge ordered him to appear in court in regards to the directive.
Reece was joined by area clergy and community leaders to announce the letter in a Wednesday morning news conference.
