Jon Husted isn’t like a lot of Republicans. When it comes to voting rights, the Ohio Secretary of State actually has a philosophy broaden than simple partisan advantage. Conventional wisdom goes that making it easier to vote, through broader voter registration laws and the like, will disproportionately help poor and nonwhite voters-those more likely to go Democratic. Meanwhile, hurdles like voter ID laws help Republican candidates by making it disproportionately harder for those populations to cast a ballot. It’s such a viewpoint that led Pennsylvania’s Republican House Majority Leader Mike Turzai to say that the state’s strict voter ID law would “allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.”
Husted isn’t of that ilk. Last June, when Ohio’s GOP legislature considered passing what would have been among the stricter photo ID requirements in the country, Husted spoke out. “I want to be perfectly clear, when I began working with the General Assembly to improve Ohio’s elections system it was never my intent to reject valid votes,” he said in a press release. “I would rather have no bill than one with a rigid photo identification provision that does little to protect against fraud and excludes legally registered voters’ ballots from counting.” He’s also fought for online voter registration that would help more people get on the rolls.
Most importantly, this year, for the first time in state history, Husted decided to send all state voters applications to vote by mail, making it significantly easier for those who might have trouble getting to the polls to send in their ballot.
In that context, Husted’s decisions regarding early voting might seem totally out of character. The secretary of state decided he had the authority to set early voting hours across the state. Normally, the two Democrats and two Republicans on each county’s board of elections decide the voting hours in their county, but this year, Republicans in largely Democratic counties voted against extended hours at night and on the weekends. The tie votes went to Husted, who broke them in favor of more limited hours. That meant that the counties most likely to vote Democratic were not able to keep polling places open as long. After Husted under intense fire for his decision, he issued a state directive mandating standard hours across the state-with no weekend voting. Husted even went so far as to suspend two members of one county election board for motioning to allow early weekend voting despite the mandate from the state.
More disturbing, but perhaps somewhat predictable, was the news that one county Republican Party chair openly noted that the restricted hours in urban counties was good news because the state shouldn’t cater to black voters. “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban-read African American-voter-turnout machine,” Doug Preisse told the Columbus Dispatch.
The outrage is palpable among both Democrats and voting rights activists. There’s the obvious concerns about what limiting access will mean in terms of election results in the swing state. But more broadly, there’s a concern that some voters are being suppressed. Certainly comments like Preisse’s seem like evidence of a move to limit voting for black and other nonwhite voters.
But Husted’s defense of his decision is more nuanced and deserves more of a response than simply alleging voter suppression. Rather, the secretary raises an important and legitimate policy question: Should statewide consistency be the ultimate criterion for determining a fair election?
Husted certainly thinks so. Since taking office, Husted has focused on a need for uniform standards across the state. This time last year, in response to a question about mailings, he said in a press release that “Uniformity in the way in which Ohio’s elections are administered is of the utmost importance, which is why Ohio must have a standardized approach to administering elections that ensures equal access for all voters.”
“This will be the first time in Ohio that all voters that participate in this election have the same rules statewide,” Husted’s press secretary, Matt McClellan, told me with evident pride. McClellan points to the uniformity not only in hours but also in absentee ballot applications. The spokesman also notes that the new hours will actually expand voting options in some counties, while restricting in others. Everyone in Ohio will be able to vote Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. starting October 2. Beginning October 22 through November 2, evening hours go up to 7 p.m. According to McClellan, Husted spoke with a variety of types of counties before setting the hours, ones he believes will give urban counties enough options while not overly burdening smaller counties. This, the secretary’s office argues, gives everyone equal access.
For voting rights activists, however, this logic has a key flaw. A consistent rule does not necessarily have a consistent impact, and you cannot divorce voting from the environment in which it occurs. In this case, it’s clear the law will restrict black voters significantly more than other groups. As one of the most recent reports from local voting rights group Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates shows, in counties with large African American populations, those communities vote as much higher rates during early voting. In Cuyahoga County, the state’s most populous, black voters made up 56 percent of 2008 early in-person voters, while only making up 28 percent of the population. Similarly, in Montgomery County, black voters make up 20 percent of the population and a whopping 52 percent of 2008 early voters. You can see the trend across the five counties with large black voting populations. As the report points out, 3.4 percent of the total votes statewide were cast during the extended evening and weekend hours. In a swing state known for close elections, that’s enough to change an election outcome.
It’s not surprising: weekend and evening hours help those with inflexible work schedules to get to the polls during their time off and allow community groups like churches to bring congregations all together.
Ohio is an extremely diverse state-it’s rural and urban, it’s got different racial and ethnic makeups in different places. Voters in some places will barely notice Husted’s changes, while in these large urban counties, the shift in voting hours‚ particularly the end of weekend voting, will cast a huge shadow.
“It’s a ridiculous idea because of the differences, the very large differences [between] counties,” Norman Robbins, the research director for the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates, told me. “His being consistent is a race to the bottom.”
Robbins is right-this is levelling down at its worst. Furthermore, we cannot pretend that all populations have an equal relationship to voting. The state should work harder to ensure access to populations that have historically been denied the right to vote. Limiting access is bad enough-but when those limitations disproportionately impact a group that’s faced historic discrimination, there’s an even higher level of distrust. As Robbins notes, that also limits the impact of Husted’s absentee applications-those who do not trust the elections will want to cast their ballot in person rather than mail something in.
Voting is a community act. You vote with your neighbors, and often recognize the poll workers. In many states, poll workers can even affirm a voter’s identity if someone forgets a form of ID. In addition to voting for president, the ballots contain hyper-local issues and contests. As such, the hours should be tailored to do what’s best for each community.