Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Sec. of State Brunner on Voting Rights

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner about the status of newly registered voters in Ohio. The state has more than half a million newly registered or updated voter registration records on file. The Ohio Republican party filed a suit that requested newly registered voters, some of whom the party suspects of being ineligible to vote, to request that the new voters fill out provisional ballots rather than regular ones. When the circuit court ruled in the Republican Party’s favor, Brunner took it to the Supreme Court, and it ruled in her favor.

What this means is that the thousands of newly registered voters, many of whom are young voters or members of traditionally disenfranchised (urban poor and new citizens), will be treated just like every other voter. Rather than questioning the vote first, it seems that voters should be assumed innocent until proven otherwise. Allowing them to fill out regular ballots like everyone else seems to be a step in the right direction.

Cross posted at Pushback.