Voting Advocacy Opportunity

Cuyahoga County: Send Out Notice of Early Election

This morning the Cuyahoga Board of Elections split along party lines about sending out applications for early voting in the November 2011 election. As you are aware, the State of Ohio passed a law in June which bars local county boards of elections from paying for a mailing that includes a blank early voting application. That law will take effect in late September unless advocates collect enough signatures to get the voting law on the ballot. The County had already approved the funds for a mailing, but the Board of Elections just needed to send out the mailing. This morning the Board could not achieve a majority of votes to authorize this mailing. It is likely that Republican Jon Husted, current Ohio Secretary of State, will side with the two Republican Board members in Cuyahoga County and not approve the mailing.

Cuyahoga County has the opportunity to claw back these funds for the mailing from the Board of Elections, and do the mailing themselves. This is not a Presidential election, and these odd year elections can sneak up on voters. The shut in, the person who travels a great deal, and the homeless individuals waiting for their birth certificate from another state so that they can get identification, would appreciate a blank application in the mail to complete and send back to make sure that they do not miss the opportunity to vote. This is a bad state law that we hope will be overturned by voters. We need more participation in the election, and reminding voters only boosts turn out. Urge the County Council to send out this mailing to all eligible Cuyahoga County voters. They have a month and half to make this happen. Give your Councilperson a call to urge them to send out this early voting information mailing. Here is the contact information:
http://council.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/council-members.aspx

Brian
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