15 military groups respond to Obama's lawsuit v Ohio re: military voting:
8/6/12, "Obama Campaign Lying About Ohio Voting, Military Groups Suing," Paula, RedState.com
"What Obama for America v. Husted seeks to do is throw out the first law (HB 194) and the new law relating to the military early voting (HB224) and revert back to what we had in Ohio before the 2011 reforms:
“A preliminary and permanent order prohibiting the Defendants…from implementing or enforcing lines 863 and 864 of Sec. 3509.03 (I) in HB 224, and/or the SB 295 enactment of Ohio Revised Code § 3509.03 with the HB 224 amendments, thereby restoring in-person early voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all eligible Ohio voters;”
Except that we NEVER HAD in-person early voting for all eligible Ohio voters the weekend before Election Day. Again, we only had this for select (mostly Democratic-leaning) districts. So, David Axelrod and the Obama campaign are not telling the truth when they say their only motivation is to “restore” early voting to “all” Ohio voters. And again, this lawsuit, if successful, will disenfranchise military voters, allowing fewer military voters to vote.
The fifteen military groups apparently agreed. The suit, which minces no words, says:
“The principal campaign committee of President Barack Obama, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, is arguing before this Court that the State of Ohio has violated the U.S. Constitution by giving members of the Armed Forces—who serve under his command, and risk their lives pursuant to his orders—three extra days to participate in early voting…The Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee contend that they cannot “discern” any “legitimate justification” for giving members of the military extra time to participate in early voting…”
“…Members of the U.S. Armed Forces risk their lives to keep this nation safe and defend the fundamental constitutional right to vote. The Obama campaign’s and Democratic National Committee’s argument that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to afford special consideration, flexibility, and accommodations to military voters to make it easier for them to vote in person is not only offensive, but flatly wrong as a matter of law.” [emphasis added]
Probably wasn’t a good idea for Obama to get on the wrong side of these groups representing a million military members. They continue:
“Finally, the State could have recognized that the number of overseas voters who would be in a position to vote in person the weekend before Election Day was so de minimus that allowing them to do so would not burden election officials or interfere with Election Day preparations. Allowing the general public to vote throughout that weekend, in contrast, would be a substantial burden on election personnel, and risk undermining their preparations for Election Day…(noting that “approximately 93,000 Ohioans voted in the three days prior to the 2008 presidential election”).”
Here’s a little reminder of what we had to deal with in Ohio in 2008. Boards of Election were overwhelmed with thousands of unregistered voters bused in by groups like ACORN and the SEIU the day before the election. There were multiple individuals and groups prosecuted for election fraud as a result, which led to the reforms of 2011.
Members of the military have every right to be upset about what the Obama campaign is trying to do. The Ohio legislature was right to give our men and women who serve our country a few extra days to vote. There are a myriad of reasons they may need to do so and we should make every accommodation for them to get to the polls. That the Obama campaign would sue to try to skim a few extra votes on election day at the expense of our military while denigrating the important work they do is shameful." via Mark Levin show
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The fifteen military groups apparently agreed. The suit, which minces no words, says:
“The principal campaign committee of President Barack Obama, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, is arguing before this Court that the State of Ohio has violated the U.S. Constitution by giving members of the Armed Forces—who serve under his command, and risk their lives pursuant to his orders—three extra days to participate in early voting…The Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee contend that they cannot “discern” any “legitimate justification” for giving members of the military extra time to participate in early voting…”
“…Although the relief Plaintiffs seek is an overall extension of Ohio’s early voting period, the means through which Plaintiffs are attempting to attain it—a ruling that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to grant extra time for early voting solely to military voters and overseas citizens—is both legally inappropriate and squarely contrary to the legal interests and constitutional rights of Intervenors, their members, and the courageous men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces….
“…Members of the U.S. Armed Forces risk their lives to keep this nation safe and defend the fundamental constitutional right to vote. The Obama campaign’s and Democratic National Committee’s argument that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to afford special consideration, flexibility, and accommodations to military voters to make it easier for them to vote in person is not only offensive, but flatly wrong as a matter of law.” [emphasis added]
Probably wasn’t a good idea for Obama to get on the wrong side of these groups representing a million military members. They continue:
“Finally, efforts to facilitate and maximize military voting should be welcomed, not viewed with constitutional suspicion. .. (recognizing that the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces “fight for the very principle that our democratic society is based [upon]—the fundamental right to vote”). For these reasons, it is hardly “arbitrary” for the State of Ohio to facilitate voting by members of the military by giving them an extra weekend to cast in-person absent ballots.”
They also make the important point that the reason for not extending voting for the entire state through Monday is this:
“Finally, the State could have recognized that the number of overseas voters who would be in a position to vote in person the weekend before Election Day was so de minimus that allowing them to do so would not burden election officials or interfere with Election Day preparations. Allowing the general public to vote throughout that weekend, in contrast, would be a substantial burden on election personnel, and risk undermining their preparations for Election Day…(noting that “approximately 93,000 Ohioans voted in the three days prior to the 2008 presidential election”).”
Here’s a little reminder of what we had to deal with in Ohio in 2008. Boards of Election were overwhelmed with thousands of unregistered voters bused in by groups like ACORN and the SEIU the day before the election. There were multiple individuals and groups prosecuted for election fraud as a result, which led to the reforms of 2011.
Members of the military have every right to be upset about what the Obama campaign is trying to do. The Ohio legislature was right to give our men and women who serve our country a few extra days to vote. There are a myriad of reasons they may need to do so and we should make every accommodation for them to get to the polls. That the Obama campaign would sue to try to skim a few extra votes on election day at the expense of our military while denigrating the important work they do is shameful." via Mark Levin show
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