Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced today that almost 10,000 additional signatures are needed by
next week to place House Bill 194 to a statewide referendum next year.
Petitioners seeking to place
House Bill 194, “the voter suppression” bill on the November 2012 ballot need
almost 9600 more valid signatures to get the referendum on the ballot. They
submitted 333,063 total signatures, of which only 221,572, about two-thirds,
were valid.
Petitioners now have ten days, until
Thursday, November 24, to gather the additional valid signatures. The petitions
submitted have satisfied the other constitutional requirements to collect
signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and within each of those
counties collected enough signatures equal to three percent of the total vote
cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2010. The three
percent threshold was achieved in 52 counties.
Failure
to secure the additional signatures would result in immediate application of HB
194, including curtailment of early voting.
Congressional Democrats hold hearing on nationwide voting law changes
Congressional Democrats hold hearing on nationwide voting law changes
In Washington DC, today, House
Democrats, including Representative
Marcia Fudge (OH-11), held
a forum entitled “Excluded from Democracy: The Impact of Recent State Voting
Law Changes”.
Here are excerpts from Rep.
Fudge’s opening remarks:
"It is time that the American
people hear from more than just us that there is a concerted effort across this
country to limit, to suppress and to undo our right to vote. It is deliberate
and it is by design. From Ohio to Wisconsin, down to Florida, across Texas, the
franchise is under attack today in this country. A certain predetermined
segment of Americans are being targeted; young people, the elderly, our
disabled and minorities, will all feel the repercussions of this concerted
effort. There's nothing new about what we're seeing today if you have lived as
long as I have lived. These are the tactics that have been used for years to
compromise the franchise.” …
“Legislation passed or proposed in the
state of Ohio, which is my home, and a number of other states has ended Sunday
voting. Think about it, Ohio's Republican legislature has voted to reduce not
only Sunday voting but voting early from currently what was 35 days a year ago
down to 16 days. In 2008, African-American voters accounted for 22% of early
votes and 31% of Sunday voters. Latinos accounted for 22% of Sunday voters.
Minorities who work long hours all week and don't get time off need the
flexibility that early voting and Sunday voting provide. On Saturdays and
Sundays, before Election Day, people of faith across the country remind their
parishioners to vote. But those orchestrating this suppression effort know full
well the importance of Sunday voting and early voting. They know minorities in
particular will be disproportionately impacted by these laws.”
