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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Good news for voting enthusiasts

Good news for voting enthusiasts

by Kay|  October 26, 201112:21 pm| 41 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Election 2010, Election 2011, Election 2012, Enhanced Protest Techniques

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From cautious optimism:

Earlier this year, Ohio Gov. John Kasich® signed a sweeping bill intended to make it harder to vote in his states’ elections. Kasich’s anti-voter law drastically cuts back on early voting and erects new barriers for absentee and even for election day voters. Today, however, opponents of Kasich’s war on voting will submit over 300,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office — well over the 231,000 signatures necessary to suspend the law until it can be challenged in a referendum in November of 2012. If enough of the signatures are deemed valid, the practical effect of this petition will be that Kasich’s law will not be in effect during the 2012 presidential elections when Republicans hoped the law would weaken President Obama’s efforts to turn out early voters who support his reelection.

The number was 318,000, and that’s too close for comfort, because a lot of signatures will get thrown out as invalid. However, people who think legally registered voters should be permitted to vote no matter their net worth or wholly subjective degree of “real americanism” had two weeks to continue to gather signatures after submitting the initial petitions, and they did that.

Probably a done deal:

Last week, it was reported that the Ohio GOP had filed public-records requests of numerous boards of election across the state, apparently hoping to find irregularities to disqualify HB 194 (voter suppression) repeal petitions after 318,000 signatures were turned in to try to meet the requirement of just over 231,000 valid signatures Now that number probably would have done it, but it was a little close for comfort. And clearly, the Republicans were looking into anything they could to squeeze some signatures and petitions out of contention. But the repeal proponents had another two and a half weeks to gather signatures, and it appears they’ve hit this one well out of the iffy range — and probably out of range of any GOP challenge. Friday the Ohio Democratic Party announced that another 150,000 signatures were collected in that additional time period.
With almost 480,000 signatures — more than double the number needed — you’d need exceptionally sloppy petition circulators to get enough invalid signatures to block the repeal from the ballot. So it looks like we’ll be voting on this come November 2012.

This move puts the law’s provisions on hold for the 2011 and 2012 election cycles. The voter suppression law won’t be operative in Ohio for the 2011 election or the 2012 election, because we’ll be voting on whether to repeal it.

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Reader Interactions

41Comments

  1. 1.

    xian

    October 26, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    thank you Ohio!

  2. 2.

    Zifnab

    October 26, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    This move puts the law’s provisions on hold for the 2011 and 2012 election cycles. The voter suppression law won’t be operative in Ohio for the 2011 election or the 2012 election, because we’ll be voting on whether to repeal it.

    Fuck yeah, Ohio!

    And talk about a monumental backfire. They wanted to keep people away from the polls. With 480k petition names, you know this kind of ballot initiative will draw prospective voters like a magnet.

  3. 3.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    October 26, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    Well shucks…

    Nice work… congratulations… ‘n all that…

    It’s getting to the point where I hate Republicans so badly I’m having a hard time
    finding words strong enough to express the emotion…

    And truthfully, I really don’t like a lot of Dems either… but I really, really dislike Repubs… for all the obvious reasons…

    Congrats to all those who worked to make this happen in Ohio.

  4. 4.

    J

    October 26, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    Well Done! Three Cheers!

  5. 5.

    General Stuck

    October 26, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    When evil clowns open their mouth

  6. 6.

    Trinity

    October 26, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Good news everyone!

  7. 7.

    soonergrunt

    October 26, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    Nice work, Kay! Pat yourself and all your compatriots on the back.
    Then get back to work.

  8. 8.

    kay

    October 26, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    @Zifnab:

    It’s funny what resonates with people, and, once again, conservatives over-reached.
    Collecting signatures, the part of the law that people found inexplicable was where poll workers weren’t “required” to tell people they’re voting in the wrong precinct. Right polling place, wrong precinct.
    People seemed to think that was dirty pool, allowing someone to think they’re in the right precinct, and vote, and then the vote (probably) won’t be counted.
    Which it IS, of course :)

  9. 9.

    Lizzy L

    October 26, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    This is great.

    I lived in Cleveland, decades ago. Folks in OH can get testy if someone tries to f*** with them. In 2010 I called Ohio before the election as part of Obama’s GOTV. I’ll probably volunteer to do it again next year. Go OhioDems!

  10. 10.

    Linda Featheringill

    October 26, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    Good news all around, both for us Ohio types and for everyone else!

    So we get to vote on this nonsense next year? Good on us!

    Edited because I can’t spell. :-(

  11. 11.

    TheMightyTrowel

    October 26, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    Ohio! Fuck Yeah!

  12. 12.

    KRK

    October 26, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    Great news!

  13. 13.

    Kristine

    October 26, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    ::pumps fist in air::

    Yea, Ohio!

  14. 14.

    Joel

    October 26, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    Well done Kay, and others.

    This might be one of the most important (and underrated) developments for the elections next year.

  15. 15.

    gelfling545

    October 26, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    You any your associates deserve a great deal of credit for your service to our country. Thank you.

  16. 16.

    Napoleon

    October 26, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    I am actually amazed that they collected that many signatures since I heard nothing about the effort until I was going to a movie at the premier artsy/independant film theater in the Cleveland area (located in just the type of area you would expect to support something like it) and someone was collecting signatures outside. I actually thought if I had not heard of it and the only person I saw collecting signatures was in an area that was most demographically conducive to that sort of thing they were well on their way to getting a grand total of 500 signatures.

  17. 17.

    kay

    October 26, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    @Napoleon:

    I’m amazed too. I never thought it would go. I think it was the momentum from Issue Two, and the fact that they’ll need people to be allowed to actually VOTE on Issue Two. I don’t think it had anything to do with 2012, but of course it helps there.

  18. 18.

    tkogrumpy

    October 26, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Pardon my victory dance, but Fuck yea.

  19. 19.

    Wag

    October 26, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    Wow. Amazing

  20. 20.

    jibeaux

    October 26, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    That’s awesome, Ohio. That really took a lot of work, and time, and I’m proud of you.

  21. 21.

    feebog

    October 26, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    This is very good news, but I’m curious about this:

    The number was 318,000, and that’s too close for comfort, because a lot of signatures will get thrown out as invalid.

    Why would a lot of signatures get thrown out as invalid? I assume that valid signatures = registered voters, but is it really that hard to make sure that the signatures you are collecting are “valid”. Seems to me that collecting 172% of the signatures needed (318,000 to 231,000) should be more than enough.

  22. 22.

    Feudalism Now!

    October 26, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    I enjoy that the referendum will occur in 2012, during a big, fat presidential election to ensure a large voice on the issue. The thing that makes me nervous about the SB 5 vote, is that it is during a low turnout off year where a concerted GotV effort by Koch heads could confirm union busting. I am relieved that We Are Ohio seems to have a good ground game to help get people to the polls.

  23. 23.

    gf120581

    October 26, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Wow, sucks to be Kasich these days. About the only good thing going for him that he doesn’t have to face a recall effort like the Divet Head over in Wisconsin does.

  24. 24.

    El Cid

    October 26, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    These names were all faked by ACORN; the ACORN octopus, a hideous oak-mollusc hybrid, wraps its tentacles around the throat of those seeking integrity in our elections against those who would vote irresponsibly.

  25. 25.

    TooManyJens

    October 26, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    @Trinity:

    Good news everyone!

    If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the SurprisinglyOptimisticDome!

  26. 26.

    jibeaux

    October 26, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    @feebog: Duplicates or purported duplicates (I don’t know how they deal with that — people do have the same names — maybe collecting addresses?), illegibles, etc.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    October 26, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    @feebog:

    I assume that valid signatures = registered voters, but is it really that hard to make sure that the signatures you are collecting are “valid”.

    It’s harder than you think. The people collecting the signatures rarely know the correct name and address of the people they’re getting to sign, so they can’t spot it when that data is incorrect within the standards required by the Secretary of State. And they certainly don’t know if the person whose signature they’re collecting has already signed earlier in the campaign but forgot about it.

  28. 28.

    ellie

    October 26, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Sweet! I signed the petition outside of the library in my town and my mom did the same thing in her town.

  29. 29.

    geg6

    October 26, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Damn, kay. You and the We Are Ohio people are just awesome. Wish the layabouts and wastrels that are the Dems here in PA would look at what’s going on next door and get a clue.

  30. 30.

    kay

    October 26, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    @feebog:

    The petitions are county-specific, and so one has to ask a couple of questions prior to accepting a signature. That’s the major point of confusion. It’s easy to have two people from two different counties talking to you at the same time, and then a third person, who is just curious or chatty, and, come to find out, lives in another state :)

    A “circulator” signs out and then submits a specific petition, and attests to being qualified to circulate it, so if that circulator is somehow deemed invalid, that whole petition is thrown into question.

  31. 31.

    gbear

    October 26, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Congrats Kay! A while back you posted a map showing where states stood on voter suppression laws. Some of the states (including MN. Yay Dayton) had a nice big ‘V’ to signify that their governors had vetoed the suppression attempts. I think Ohio should get one now too. The law has (at least for the moment) been vetoed by the citizens of Ohio. Hope it holds up!

  32. 32.

    metricpenny

    October 26, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    Ohioans, y’all take my breath away!

  33. 33.

    kay

    October 26, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    @gbear:

    Me too. They call it a “citizen veto” because people love that phrase, but that isn’t really what it is, so we may not get the Big Black V. It’s as if the law never was…it just doesn’t go in. They’re very abstract and ephemeral, these laws :)

    Disappearing ink, or something.

  34. 34.

    Paul in KY

    October 26, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    @General Stuck: Anyone who believes he is telling the truth is stupid (IMO).

    He has a backup plan, he’s just flippantly saying he’s not going to share that plan with the asker.

    We should certainly plan as if he does have a backup plan (which I’m sure the brains behind this thing have, if Kasich himself does not).

    I would check into how much of his dream he could do thru executive order (permanently or temporarily).

  35. 35.

    rikryah

    October 26, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    Kay, this is absolutely FABULOUS NEWS

    thank you so much for this news.

  36. 36.

    Dan

    October 26, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    Let’s review:

    Kasich hurried SB 5 through the legislature so the referendum would be on the 2011 ballot and not during a (higher turnout) presidential election year.

    The law sparks a massive backlash observable from outer space. Seeing the greatly energized and agitated electorate, he responds not by marshaling his forces to fight for his new law tooth and nail, but by blundering ahead with a comparably unpopular voter suppression law.

    The huge activist effort already engaged to repeal SB 5 responds essentially by saying “oh yeah, this too.” I speak from experience. I’d already been going door-to-door for No On 2, and for a few weeks I just carried an HB 194 petition booklet with me as well. I got about as many signatures on that as I did for SB 5, and it was basically free – as in, built into the effort I was involved with anyway.

    This all happens well past the 2011 ballot deadline. So now Kasich not only gets his latest massively unpopular law suspended twice for the price of one effort, but it goes for a vote on the (higher turnout) presidential election ballot. Which was precisely what the rushed and ham-handed SB 5 passage was designed to avoid.

    The fail is strong in this one.

  37. 37.

    Dan

    October 26, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    And as an added bonus, the GOP presidential field is in the process of giving away Ohio for 2012. These dummies are falling all over themselves to proclaim how THEY are SB 5’s BIGGEST FAN, somehow overlooking that they are coming out forcefully in favor of a law that an overwhelming majority of residents actively loathe.

    I’m sure Ohioans will be reminded of that a year from now.

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    October 26, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    @Dan:
    It’s an inherent problem with the Republican nominating process. They’re all trying to win over the crazies, because the crazy vote will be the key to the nomination. They figure everyone will have a short enough memory that they’ll then be able to tack back to the center for the general. It’s generally been a workable strategy in the past, but that was when the right wing of the party was still within shouting distance of the median voter. I’m not sure it’s still viable when things are as unbalanced as they are today.

  39. 39.

    debbie

    October 26, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Too late, Sucka Kasich! Franklin County just extended their early voting hours. People can even vote on Sunday.

    After he’s humiliated at the polls, I want to hear Kasich spin this into something positive. Like he did couple of weeks ago when his administration spun three straight months of growing unemployment rates as a “net increase,” insisting that his new programs had “excited” people enough to come out and start looking for work again.

  40. 40.

    Nikki

    October 26, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    The Ohio Dem party is knocking shit out of the park!

  41. 41.

    jefft452

    October 26, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    I assume that valid signatures = registered voters, but is it really that hard to make sure that the signatures you are collecting are “valid”.

    Think like a wingnut
    You signed “John Q Public, but your voter registration reads “Jonathan Quincy Public”
    VOTER FRAUD!!!!!

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