Ruling lets Ohioans vote at wrong polling site

Blackwell decree reversed

Elizabeth A. Shack and Mark Reiter
October 15, 2004

Ohio voters who show up at the wrong precinct on Nov. 2 can vote in the presidential election as long as they are attempting to vote in the county in which they are registered, a federal judge in Toledo ruled yesterday.

U.S. District Judge James Carr issued a temporary injunction in a lawsuit filed Sept. 27 by the Ohio and the Sandusky County Democratic parties against Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, who had instructed poll workers across the state to send voters to their correct precincts to vote on Election Day.

Viewed as a victory for Democrats in that it eases obstacles for poor and minority voters, the decision makes it easier for people to vote for president.

Judge Carr ruled that voters cannot be ordered to their proper polling place to have their votes counted. Within hours, representatives for Mr. Blackwell, a Republican, filed an appeal with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

The Democrats' lawsuit accusing Mr. Blackwell of violating federal election laws was filed 11 days after he issued directives to county election boards for handing out and processing provisional ballots on Election Day.

The plaintiffs claimed the Blackwell directives violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which was passed after the presidential recount battles of 2000.

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