A federal judge in Ohio on Friday restored early voting rights in the three days before the election, ruling in favor of the Obama campaign.
U.S. District judge Peter C. Economus ruled that “restoring in-person early voting to all Ohio voters through the Monday before Election Day does not deprive UOCAVA voters from early voting.”
“Instead, and more importantly, it places all Ohio voters on equal standing,” Economus ruled. He said the state “fails to articulate a precise, compelling interest in establishing the 6 p.m. Friday deadline as applied to non-UOCAVA voters and has failed to evidence any commitment to the ‘exception’ it rhetorically extended to UOCAVA voters.”
The Romney campaign had falsely accused Obama of trying to curtail military voting when the suit simply sought to force the state to make early voting available to all Ohio voters.
