For Ohioans, Election Day Comes Now

Hundreds Register And Cast Their Ballots After State, Federal Courts Uphold Early Voting

(CBS/AP)  Voters in this crucial swing state began casting absentee ballots Tuesday, after state and federal courts upheld a ruling that allows residents to register and vote absentee on the same day during the first six days of voting.

Five people were waiting at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections when doors opened at 8:30 a.m., and about 230 had voted by midday in the state's most populous county.

Charlene Glass, 49, of Cleveland Heights, was among 29 newly registered voters. She voted for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

"I wanted to avoid the traffic and the people," Glass said about the chance to vote early. She registered to vote in the presidential election four years ago in Columbus, but left the polling place without casting a ballot after waiting in line for several hours, she said.

Election officials around Ohio prepared for a rush of early voting Tuesday, the first day absentee ballots are accepted in advance of the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Backed by the state Supreme Court and two federal judges, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, is allowing new voters to register and cast an absentee ballot on the same day from Tuesday through Oct. 6.

In Columbus, CBS Affiliate WBNS reports that young voters camped out in tents overnight at Veterans Memorial waiting for the polling place to open at 8:00 a.m.

Christopher Smitherman of the NAACP told WBNS, "If we can stand in line for Harry Potter books, Air Jordans and Xbox, we certainly can stand in line for democracy and casting our votes for this presidential election."

"Ohio is one of the most important states in the election, Rachel Coyle told WBNS, "and students are going to be the make-or-break of this election.

"It's so close, and it's going to be close right up to the election, so we're trying to show people that this constituency is going to go out and vote this year," Coyle said.

(Voters camp outside Veterans Memorial in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2008, to take advantage of early voting beginning Tuesday.)

Michael Stinziano of the Franklin County Board of Elections said a big turnout is expected this year, with between 10,000-12,000 people anticipated to come out for early in-person voting.

For weeks, the Ohio Republican Party accused Brunner of interpreting the early voting law to benefit her own party by allowing same-day registering and voting. Republicans argued that Ohio law requires voters to be registered for 30 days before they cast an absentee ballot.

But the Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court decided Monday that Brunner was following the law. The decision was backed by a federal judge in Cleveland. Another federal judge in Columbus declined to rule, deferring to the state Supreme Court's decision.

On Tuesday, the Ohio Republican Party asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to either stop same-day voting or at least require Brunner to separate those ballots so they can be verified.

Brunner dismissed the GOP's concerns, saying counties are required to place ballots in special envelopes that have the voter's name on it. Registration information will be verified before those ballots are counted on Nov. 4, she said.

"It's a great theory but from a practical standpoint there are great concerns that it will actually work," said Bill Todd, a lawyer for the GOP.

The second voter in line at the Board of Elections here was Julia Kramer, 19, a Case Western Reserve University freshman from New York City and an Obama volunteer. She said she's been working on campus to register out-of-state students to change their registrations to Ohio because of its critical role in the election.

Nevertheless, "A lot of people are really attached to their hometowns," Kramer said. "It's hard to explain to people that your vote (in New York) won't count as much."

In Columbus, voters wanting to cast ballots as soon as possible on Tuesday morning had set up tents Monday night to wait in line outside the Franklin County Board of Elections.

Obama's campaign organized car pools from college campuses to early voting sites. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless was ferrying voters from homeless shelters to polling sites in the Cleveland area. Other organizations that seek to increase poor and minority participation in elections are transporting voters from low-income neighborhoods.

The targeted voters have all traditionally had a harder time getting registered, and then getting to polling places on Election Day.

Republicans weren't ceding the early voting crowd just because they were engaged in a court challenge.

"You have a special opportunity to help elect John McCain, Sarah Palin and Republicans across the ballot," a page on the Republican National Committee's Web site said.

The window occurs because state law requires absentee voting to begin 35 days before Election Day, on Sept. 30, while the end of registration for this election is Oct. 6. The window was used by voters sparingly in previous elections, but never got any attention until the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law in 2005 that enabled all Ohio voters to vote absentee.

[maverickgrn]

I almost forgot; if you vote early, then you could VOLUNTEER to work at the polls. We always need people. Democrats and Republicans! The pay isn''t great, but I think of it as doing something for my country. The money is just a "Thank-you present".

[maverickgrn]

I cast my ballot in Ohio on Tuesday afternoon. I will be working the election, so I had to vote early. I would like to point out that the really important point is that REGISTRATION ENDS OCTOBER 6! Everybody who wants to vote should not only make sure that they are registered, but PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR REGISTRATION IS CORRECT before Tuesday. Don''t let somebodies mistake put your vote at risk. Incomplete addresses, old addresses, name changes (including unofficial ones),spelling errors, etc. may be a problem. The best way to make sure is to check your registration for errors while you still have time to fix it.

This is less of a political issue that you might think. Anyone who really cares about the right to vote does not want votes to be thrown out because of minor issues...and every election has some problems. I believe that early voting is a great advantage because if there are problems, there is still time to fix them.

[dottydo]

At a meeting held by illegals for illegals at a school last month in Phoenix Arizona, voter registration forms were handed out and filled out.

There should be some real time checks across the Nation. Picking up illegals standing outside of home improvement stores is hardly a democracy at work. What keep States of the Nation from becoming States of lawless chaos?

Vote twice, vote often, and have fun at it kids, should not be the new Mantra. Show up buses running town to town ,State to State, is something that should be checked.

[parrots121]

Most Repugs are ******** their pants right now ..... Why are they bent on preventing some or any Americans from Voting ??

[kansas1946]

I live in Ohio, and I love the capability to vote early. I''''''''m voting after work tomorrow night. Every state should adopt the policy.
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Posted by raflin01 at 03:54 PM : Sep 30,

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Unofficial Exit Poll

So, who ya'' votin'' for, raflin?? :o)

[kansas1946]

I live in Ohio, and I love the capability to vote early. I''''m voting after work tomorrow night. Every state should adopt the policy.


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Posted by raflin01 at 03:54 PM : Sep 30, 2008


I think we have some sort of early voting here in Kansas also. I live in a really small town, so voting lines have never been an issue. Maybe some of the solution to all of this is all states to have some sort of set-up, maybe in court houses, or government offices, where machines are available a month prior to the election. There are state and local employees already there, so it would cut down the need for volunteers, and then total the voting on election day. Something has got to change. This business of people being turned away from voting because of lines is not acceptable.

[allmymarbles]

Is it possible to fiddle these early ballots? There certainly will be plenty of time to do it.

[antoniof123]

The window was used by voters sparingly in previous elections, but never got any attention until the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law in 2005 that enabled all Ohio voters to vote absentee.

The Republicans pass the law now it didn''t work out for them so they challenge it in court.

Go figure that out if they can''t win by clean ethics they will cheat any way they can.

Of course you will not win this election the polls and states are turning aways from the wing nut party.