Ohio On Obama Suit: Not Unconstitutional To Treat Military Voters Differently

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Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a motion Monday supporting the rights of 15 military groups to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Obama campaign over Ohio’s early voting laws, a suit that has come under attack from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“Due to the unique challenges that military voters face, the State of Ohio has recognized that it isimportant to make voting as easy as possible for those voters,” the filing states. “Whether they are bravely serving the country overseas or stationed closer to home, these men and women on active duty should be given every opportunity to receive and cast an absentee ballot.” (The suit is actually about in-person voting rather than absentee voting, as the state claimed. Diane Mazur explains more here.)

The state claims that the “central theory” of the Obama campaign’s claim “is that it is unconstitutional for the State of Ohio to treat military voters differently than any other voters,” and Ohio contends such a finding would make absentee rules for members of the military unconstituional as well. The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also support the rights of the 15 military groups to intervene in the suit. Ohio’s filing is embedded below.  

Ohio Voting Suit

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