To the Editor: Husted’s efforts to set Ohio voting practices criticized

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I know a number of ethical and honest Republicans, but GOP Secretary of State Jon Husted is not one of
them. Husted sets the laws for voting practices in Ohio. In the 2012 Presidential Election, he attempted
to reduce opportunities for certain groups to vote. Those groups included the poor, minorities, women,
and college students, all of whom tend to vote Democratic. A federal appeals judge overturned his
directives as unconstitutional.
But Husted and other overzealous partisans did not give up on attempts to suppress the vote of those not
likely to vote for GOP candidates. They began to develop the notion of voter fraud to justify changes in
voting practices. Voter fraud. Really? I recently contacted State Representative Tim Brown.
Brown’s staff helped me gather numbers examining voter fraud in the 2012 election. Some 5.6 million
Ohioans voted in that election. Of that number, 20 voters committed fraud that might lead to a
conviction. Twenty of 5.6 million is an extremely low percentage of cases that Husted intended to use to
justify changes in voting procedures.
The same strategy was used in other states with GOP-dominated legislatures. Wisconsin and Arkansas had to
acquiesce because voter fraud in those states turned out to be more myth than real. In Alabama, they
were so desperate to find voter fraud that they offered a thousand dollars to anyone who could find
voter fraud that led to a conviction. They found 3.
Not to be deterred, Husted scrambled to find other justifications for changing the rules. His latest
effort to develop "uniform" voting practices has met resistance in larger counties like
Cuyahoga. Husted (and Republican Governor John Kasich) backed down from that plan when threatened by
lawsuits.
Federal Judge Peter Economus has ordered Husted to keep the polls open for voting for the 3 days just
prior to the 2014 election. Those 3 days include traditional trips by African-Americans to go to the
polls after Sunday service.
Voter suppression in Ohio has one objective: to tilt the playing field in favor of the GOP and to make
voting more difficult for others. Husted and other Republicans (certainly not all) are putting the
interests of their party ahead of essential voting rights. Party first, country second. If Republicans
are to regain their integrity, they must rid themselves of people willing to forfeit democratic
principles for political gain.
Jim Litwin
Bowling Green

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