COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Fifteen states and several military
organizations announced their support for Ohio’s elections chief on
Friday in a dispute over early voting in the presidential battleground,
which is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ohio Secretary
of State Jon Husted has appealed a lower court ruling that reinstates
early voting on the three days before Election Day and returns
discretion to local boards of elections. The Republican also has asked
the Supreme Court to delay the lower court’s decision while it decides
whether to take the case.
The campaign of President Barack Obama,
which sued the state over the early voting, says a new Ohio law unfairly
ends early, in-person voting for most Ohioans on the Friday evening
before the Tuesday election, while allowing military and overseas voters
to cast a ballot in person until Monday.
Before the changes to
the law, local boards of election had the discretion to set their own
early, in-person voting hours on the days before the election. And
in-person voting on the weekend varied among the state’s 88 counties.
Husted has argued that all counties should have the same early voting hours and be open on the same days.

The
6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week reinstated early voting on
the final three days. But the three-judge panel also said local boards
of elections would have the discretion to decide whether to allow voters
to cast an early ballot on the weekend and Monday before Election Day —
just as they could in 2008.
"While we readily acknowledge the
need to provide military voters more time to vote, we see no
corresponding justification for giving others less time," Judge Eric L.
Clay wrote in the opinion.
Attorneys general for 15 states said in
a court filing Friday that the Constitution gives states exclusive
power to set the time, place and manner for voting. They also said the
appeals court overstated the significance of eliminating those days,
since Ohio already provides 23 days for in-person or absentee early
voting.
The states also say the lower court disregarded the special status of military voters.
"It
is not irrational for Ohio to have done so here given the personal
sacrifice and special circumstances of those who put themselves in
harm’s way to protect our country’s freedom," the states argued.
The
Obama campaign asked the Supreme Court on Friday to deny Ohio’s appeal
of the lower court’s ruling. The campaign said Husted has not shown a
likelihood of success and the facts of the case are unique to Ohio
without broad implication elsewhere.
"The Ohio system … is
unique," the campaign argued. Nowhere "else in the country will an
eligible voter be turned away from a single, open polling place because
the polling place is open for some voters, but not for that particular
voter."
Husted disagreed, saying the case has widespread impact.
"If
allowed to stand, the precedent set by this decision in the state of
Ohio will have far reaching consequences for all 50, whether they are
‘red,’ ‘blue,’ or ‘swing’ states," Husted said in a statement.
Military
groups backing Ohio include the National Guard Association of the
United States, the Association of the U.S. Army, Association of the U.S.
Navy, the Marine Corps League, and the Military Officers Association of
America.
The states that filed in support of Ohio are Alabama,
Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Democratic state senators in Ohio also urged the Supreme Court on Friday to reject Husted’s appeal.
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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached at http://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.