Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

How Ohio’s Early Voting Rules Discriminate Against City Dwellers

12:11 PM EST on November 6, 2012

By now, space aliens have heard about the importance of Ohio in today's presidential election. Statistical wizard Nate Silver estimates this swingiest of swing states has a 50 percent chance of deciding the election.

Adding to the drama: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has twice acted to restrict early voting and voting rights, including a new order, issued Friday, regarding the handling of provisional ballots that won't be adjudicated until tomorrow. Thanks to a federal court ruling, limited early voting went forward around the state last weekend. But even that represented a vast reduction in the time allotted for early voting compared to the last presidential election.

Now, Randy Simes at Urban Cincy reports that the way early voting was carried out is inherently biased against city residents.

According to the Hamilton County Board of Elections, 564,429 people have been registered to vote in Hamilton County – a number slightly higher than that in 2008. The difference between 564,429 voters in 2012, however, is that their early voting days have been greatly reduced.

On top of the reduced number of days to vote early, voters across Ohio are only allowed to cast an early vote at one location per county. This means that voters in heavily populated counties with big cities are subjected to longer waits. So far, voters in Hamilton County have reported up to 4.5-hour-long waits downtown.

Not only do politicians in Washington D.C. rarely talk about cities, which include the vast majority of Americans, but the fact that a segment of those politicians are actively working to reduce the ability of urban voters to vote is truly disgusting.

While it is too late to change anything for this election, we would like to see the administration of Governor Kasich (R) move quickly to expand early voting for future elections, and expand the number of voting locations in each county based on population totals.

Contrary to some popular perceptions, Ohio is a very urban state; 78 percent of the state's residents live in urbanized areas, including major cities like Columbus and Cleveland, as well as their suburbs.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Human Transit holds up New York City's post-Sandy bus service as an example of how bus rapid transit can be instantly established using orange cones in the case of disaster. The Political Environment reports that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's last minute refusal of passenger rail money has resulted in a $45 million lawsuit against the state. And the Overhead Wire carries a thorough roundup of every transportation initiative on ballots around the country this election day.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

City Pays $150K to Settle Suit Over Cops Who Harassed Man Who Reported Police Parking Misconduct

Justin Sherwood and his lawyer will pocket $152,000 to settle his federal civil rights suit against the city and several officers who harassed him following his 311 calls.

September 28, 2023

Police Brass Gets Booed During E-Vehicle Safety Alliance Meeting for Applauding Deliveristas

Attendees of the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance's latest meeting castigated a Transportation Bureau deputy inspector for saying that delivery workers are responsive to safety issues.

September 28, 2023

Thursday’s Headlines: Unsafe School Streets Edition

A school crossing guard was injured by a drunk driver on Tuesday. Plus more news.

September 28, 2023

EYES ON THE STREET: Drivers Dominate Former W. 22nd Open Street

Meh. The barriers are gone and the cars are back on W. 22nd, but some spaces for people remain.

September 28, 2023

‘Not Grieving Alone’: A Father’s Artistic Journey After Losing Two Kids to Road Violence

Colin Campbell and his wife Gail Lerner lost both their children in a car crash with impaired driver. Now, it's a show.

September 28, 2023
See all posts