Way back in 2006, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless sued the State of Ohio over identification issues and voting. We reached settlements for the 2006 and 2008 elections on the procedure for accepting identification on election day and how to count the provisional ballots. The Hamilton County Board of Elections in supervising the 2010 election decided to ignore the Secretary of State directive on counting of provisional ballots that were based on our settlement. There was an extremely close race between Tracie Hunter and John Williams for juvenile court judge. The final total provided by the Board was Williams winning by 23 votes. This last week, a federal court judge in Cincinnati ruled that the hundreds of votes tossed out should be counted.
The Board of Elections excluded ballots that were cast with some error associated with the provisional ballot. Many of these errors were the result of the poll worker misdirecting the voter in the proper procedure for completing the ballot. It would seem obvious if the employee of the Board of Elections misdirects the voter, that voter should not be disenfranchised and have their vote thrown out. The federal court judge has decided that these voters cast legitimate votes that must be counted if the poll worker erred. After two years of the seat being vacant and the people of Greater Cincinnati waiting for a decision in the case, the federal court has upheld our settlement. The Cincinnati Inquirer story says that most of the disputed ballots are in heavily Democratic areas of town. The local media is predicting that the election will swing the other way and Hunter will prevail. Judging from the visceral response from the Hamilton County officials who answered the lawsuit and represent the other political party, they seem to agree.
This is a victory for the Coalition and a victory for providing as many citizens as possible the chance to participate in democracy. These same rules will be in place for the upcoming presidential election unless the state legislature makes changes this spring. The difference is that these settlement and the directives will now have the success of being verified by the federal courts. The Hamilton County Board of Elections has not decided if they are going to appeal this ruling.
Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
The CWRU Magazine, Think, had an interesting article about how difficult it is for those re-entering from incarceration to obtain identification. As we move forward in Ohio again on changing the process for voting (Remember how great a job we did in the 2005 reform?), legislators need to keep in mind how difficult it is to obtain identification.
In case the article disappears on the CWRU website here it is:
Regaining Identity a Nightmare for Recent Inmates
Obtaining an identification card is, seemingly, a normal passage through life. But those who recently have been released from prison, a valid ID can be a nearly impossible luxury.
Case Western Reserve University social-work researcher Amy Blank Wilson, PhD, says obtaining identification is an uphill battle for inmates reentering society. Lacking it can bar ex-offenders from public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid, which require clients to show ID.
“Released prisoners are being systematically excluded because of UD requirements,” she says.
The problem starts early in the criminal justice system: Suspects routinely have their identification confiscated when they are arrested. Those who don’t have it with them as they are apprehended are never given an opportunity to grab it. And the homeless are often forced to abandon all belongings on the street.
Wilson says that for those who are lucky enough to have some form of ID when they’re released, often what they have isn’t enough. Obtaining major forms of government-issued identification-such as a Social Security card- can require two different forms of Ids, such as a driver’s license and birth certificate, neither of such can be granted without at least one other major form of ID.
“When they’re released, former inmates face the Catch-22’ that it takes ID to get ID,” Wilson says. “This is keeping people from receiving life-sustaining resources. They’re missing out on the services they need.”
As a founding member of the local Homeless ID Collaborative under the guidance of West Side Catholic, the public needs to realize that it is very difficult to both afford and obtain a birth certificate. For those not born in Ohio, it can take months to get a birth certificate and the cost can be as high as $70. This is not an easy undertaking, and as the article suggests identification is now invaluable for housing, voting, obtaining a job and health care. Legislators need to be aware that identification is not so easy to come by even if the state decides to pay for the state identification card. A citizen cannot get a state id unless they have a birth certificate and social security number.
Brian Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
After seeing all the opposition to the end of collective bargaining for public employees that was met with deaf ears, it is probably a waste of time contacting your state legislator at this point. So, this is just for information purposes. The State of Ohio is proposing another reform of voting procedures in Ohio. Remember that this was tried in 2005 and a number of organizations including NEOCH sued to protect access to the ballot by homeless people, seniors, immigrants, college students, and people interested in the smooth operation of government. So the state does not have the best track record for reforming voting laws in Ohio. This time they are going to require state identification in order to vote (Ohio HB 159). Most of the state legislators in Cuyahoga County oppose this voting identification law, because they realize that this will suppress voting.
The legislation will allow "indigent" individuals a free state ID, but they are not considering the basis of all ID is the birth certificate. The birth certificate can cost anywhere from $5 to $60 depending on the state an individual was born. So, paying for the state identification does not guarantee access to a government identification card. There is a vague definition in the potential law describing how a person establishes themselves as indigent. It is unclear how to prove the negative of not having any money. The other issue is that for many homeless people it is difficult to establish residency in the state. Ohio will only give identification to individuals who can prove residency within the state. Some homeless people who live in shelters or on the streets are turned away from receiving identification because they can’t prove they are a resident.
Advocates claim that one fourth of African Americans, 18% of those over 65 years old, and 15% of low income individuals do not have government issued identification. According to the US Census there are 830,000 people living in Ohio who fall below the poverty level. Many of those very low income individuals will have a difficult time voting because they may not have a government issued identification. Over the last major election in Ohio in 2010, there was only one documented case of voter fraud, and there were 3.9 million votes cast. The state is proposing paying for the state identification, but not the birth certificate or guaranteeing access to homeless people who may have a difficult time proving residency.
This is another horrible reform of the election law that will do nothing to protect the ballot. The only thing that this does is to discourage fragile populations from attempting to vote on election day in person. It also destroys the settlement that we had with the state last year over identification procedures for voting in person.
Brian Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
Photo by Sabrina Otis a graduate of the 2008 Photo competition.
The Secretary of State of Ohio published a draft of her recommendations for reforming Ohio voting laws. There were a series of lawsuits over voting procedure in 2006 and 2008 including an identification lawsuit by NEOCH. The Republican led legislature passed a massive change in the procedures in voting in early 2006 after a controversial presidential election in 2004. This new law has only amplified the problems and disputes with both conservative and liberal groups going to court in 2008.
Secretary of State Brunner had a series of public meetings, and invited participation from all corners of the state. Brunner herself is one of the most knowledgeable scholars on voting in the United States, so she was the perfect person to lead this effort. Everyone realizes that the current voting system in Ohio is flawed and needs reform. The Republican legislature in a lame duck session in late 2008 had proposed reform that would have limited participation in voting by lower income and minority populations. Fortunately, this effort died. An unfortunate thing happened on the way to reform: Brunner threw her hat into the ring for the Ohio U.S. Senate race.
I think most people wish that we could debate all these reforms (health care, voting, energy policy, and taxes) based on what is best for the country, instead of what is best for the politician's election. Most of these decisions are put forward based on the theory "will they hurt or improve my chances for re-election in the next office that I would like to conquer." So, we have these weak reform efforts that have a few short term gains, but they usually only push the problem down the road. Sometimes these reforms are structured so that the full impact (federal bankruptcy) do not occur until the candidates are safely re-elected such as the prescription drug benefit. Senatorial candidate Brunner who is expected to have a tough primary next year sent out her recommendation for voting reform.
There are a few improvements and certainly a large number of needed clarifications, but there are two serious flaws. Our concern, on behalf of homeless people, is that there is a new requirement for identification. Those voting will have to show two forms of identification, and one must be issued by a government. The law is clarified that ID is only to prove who the person is, and not to prove an address. The other negative change for homeless people is the elimination of golden week. The sun is setting on this great quark in the law that allowed homeless people to vote and register or change their address at the same location at the same time. Over 500 very low income people used this week to vote in the 2008 Presidential election in Cleveland. This overlap of the early voting and the deadline for registration helped us to assist over 1,200 homeless people to vote during the last election. There is a report on our website detailing the work of the Coalition on voting during 2008.
In late June, we received a reply to our concerns from the Office of the Secretary of State. Bryan Clark, Policy Coordinator, for Secretary Brunner responded to our letter asking for a second look at these policies. Clark points out that the state legislature supports identification for voting so there is no chance of getting rid of this. Clark claims that a shelter letter and the notification from the Board of Election would satisfy the ID requirement. This is not clear in the draft document on the website, but if this makes it through the legislative process we support this concept. Both these forms of identification would be free and thus would allow homeless people to vote without having to wait for the money to buy a birth certificate from their home state.
Clark on behalf of the Secretary said that the participants at the public meetings supported an end to "Golden Week." With the Republican legislature hating "golden week," and now the Democratic Secretary of State on record supporting a change that would eliminate golden week it looks like the overlap is dead in the water. The problem is that there is a state election in 2010 with Brunner running for Senate and many state offices including Secretary of State up for election. Just because of the campaign and contentious nature of voting reform, I predict that nothing will be done on voting. I cannot see a way that a compromise will be struck between the two sides. There is a canyon between the Rs and the Ds on this issue. Good government and efficient voting procedures will have to wait until 2011.
Brian Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
This week the Plain Dealer and most of the television media reported on the arrest of Darnell Nash for fraud in voting during the last election. The problem is that the PD reported that Nash was homeless and made up addresses in order to vote. I see this as a success for the process. The workers at the Board of Elections in Cuyahoga County flagged Nash and contacted him. Then when he showed up to vote they turned him away. The other issue not addressed in the article was that Mr. Nash is also Santina Gibbs, a transexual, who was not afraid to proclaim that she was in fact a woman to Carl Monday. She was allegedly scamming people last fall, and was caught by Carl Monday and the police in our building. This seems like a big part of the story that was missed by the Plain Dealer. Don't those who are accused of a crime get to be referred to by the sex of their choice in newspapers? If a person outwardly appears as a woman, don't newspapers have an obligation to refer to that individual as a "she"?
We did not need this negative attention for homeless people. Ms. Gibbs will only make it more difficult to convince the legislators of the merit of the registration/voting overlap week. This was a wonderful quirk in the law that allowed hundreds of additional voters in Cleveland. By the arrest of Gibbs aka Nash, we see that the system worked. There was plenty of time before the election day to screen out bogus voters. The Board quickly caught the fact that there was one person registering in multiple locations and that some of these locations were fictitious. In fact, I am not sure that Ms. Gibbs was even able to vote one time. She was pulled out of the line and told that there was a problem with her registration.
Anyway, this attention taints the thousands of legitimate homeless voters. We registered 371 people using sheleter addresses in Cleveland in 2006 and 891 at homeless addresses in 2008. Over 400 people voted during the golden week (overlap week) in Cuyahoga County, which was about one-eighth of the total early voters in Cleveland. Every shelter helped out to make it possible for homeless people to change their address and cast a ballot in the last election. There was so much good that happened with homeless people participating in democracy. It is too bad that people like Ms. Gibbs and those ACORN workers who turned in hundreds of bogus registrations get all the headlines.
Brian Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
New Secretary of State Voting Proposal Leaves Homeless Behind
The Secretary of State released her long awaited report on needed voting reforms. These were influenced by statewide meetings held back in December, but they seem to be more influenced by a possible run for U.S. Senate. It is unclear if the alleged "streamlining of identification" will homeless people. There would still be a requirement that an individual present either a picture identification or two other forms of identification. A homeless person may have a social security card, but the only other form of identification would be a library card. There are no details in the report to provide information about what would count as "other forms of identification." We need more details on this initiative.
Dear Secretary Brunner:
Why are you ending Golden Week? Why are you not providing free identification to homeless people so that they can vote? Why are you forcing voters to bring two forms of identification to the polling places? Why are you alienating homeless people?
Why are you proposing a shorting of the early voting time to 20 days which would eliminate the one week overlap when early voting begins and when the registration deadline ends. In the last election, we were able to help 500 very low income go to the polls to vote and register during the Golden Week. Providing 30 to 35 days to verify the registration of those new voters has to be enough time in this modern age of computers. Other states allow registration right up until election day, why do we have to be so old fashioned in Ohio? The Golden week was huge for homeless people. It is not difficult to verify a voter, so why not allow voting registration and voting 35 days before election day? If the goal is to get a maximum number of voters, why not make it easy to vote? Please keep the Golden week.
Brian Davis Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.
Lame Duck Congress Attempts to Change Voting Law in Ohio
In December 2005, the Ohio Legislature voted to overhaul the voting process in Ohio. This end of the term overhaul was wildly successful with homeless, immigrants, unions, minority groups, students, and those serving the elderly all suing the state over the last three years. Ohio became the laughing stock of the country, because we could not run an effective election. So, now at the last few hours of this Congress, they are back at it. The State legislature dominated by Republicans is not trying to fix all the problems from 2005, but are proposing new issues for NEOCH and others to sue. So, I went down along with the NAACP, League of Women Voters, ACLU, COHHIO, and Common Cause to testify against this silly bill which would extend the deadline to 60 days before election day. This is a clear violation of federal law, and would result in Ohio being the only state in the union with a registration deadline greater than 30 days before the election day.
Here is a most of what I said:
"We are back here again during the end of a term as we try at the last minute to reform the voting laws in Ohio. It was December 2005, at the end of the last Congressional session that state legislators went behind closed doors and crafted a bill to restrict access to the ballot box. Now, having two years to work on changing poorly constructed HB 3 from 2005, we are at the end of the term and we are trying to restrict access to early voting.
Three years ago, we testified against HB 3 which reformed the voting law to include identification requirements.In fact, the hearing in December 2005 featured a large number of groups opposed to the bill and then only the author of the bill testifying in support.No one listened when we said that this was a bad bill and should be defeated.No one heard us list the flaws in the bill, and the state was repeatedly sued because of the unclear and contradictory law.So, today, I am here to take the opposite position in hopes that you will again disregard what this expert is saying and do the opposite.If you think all these community groups who oppose this bill are down here just to sway the election for one party and not in an effort to make sure that every legitimate voter has a chance to vote, then we will argue in favor of this bill.The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless strongly supports Senate Bill 380 further restricting access to voting, and we urge you to pass this bill in to law so that fewer people will be able to cast a ballot or will have to wait in long lines or vote when it is least convenient.
The last voting reform was so successful, we should do it again at the end of another legislative session.Students, immigrants, unions, homeless people, and groups representing the elderly all sued the state over the last voting overhaul in Ohio.This strategy has inspired such confidence in the legislators and elected officials in control in 2005 that many of those politicians who passed the HB 3 have moved into the private sector and out of the limelight.So, I say keep trying to reform the voting process because for every homeless person who was a likely Democratic voter who is forced to cast a second class provisional ballot there is an elderly woman and likely Republican voter who will have to cast a provisional ballot because she has no driver’s license and lives in a nursing home. For every union household who will no longer be able to vote early and register at the same time there is a suburban traditionally Republican family facing foreclosure who are not sure where they are supposed to register now that they are sleeping on a friend’s couch so they go to the Board of Elections and change their registration and cast their ballot at the same time.
So, who will be affected by this change in the law?There are the thousands in foreclosure who are unsure where they are allowed to vote.There are homeless people who are waiting for the state of California to send their birth certificate so that they can get a state identification.They used the “golden week” to change their registration to the shelter where they currently reside and then cast a ballot since they already waited in line.Thousands of elderly people went after church to vote on a bus in Cuyahoga County, and a few had relocated to a nursing home in 2008 so they updated their registration at the same time.Voting multiple times is the fraught with huge risk, and is the least likely way to corrupt an election.Once again, this bill is addressing a problem that does not exist in the state of Ohio, and that is what it seems we sent you people down here to do.This law also makes it easier for party officials to challenge voters by releasing information on database mismatches.We believe that it is a good idea to model our system of voting after Soviet style tactics where party officials in trench coats challenge the validity of veterans who show up to vote without the proper identification because it worked so well in 1970s USSR.
Voting is the cornerstone of our confidence in government.If it is the strategy of the state legislators is to limit access to the ballot box then this legislation needs to be passed. If it is the strategy to undermine confidence in government then this bill is the perfect compliment to the 2005 House Bill 3, because the state will no doubt face more lawsuits.If the state legislators long for the days of a poll tax that restricted access to the ballot box, then this bill will maintain the mistakes of the last bill.Identification is not free in Ohio so for a homeless veteran to vote a standard ballot on election day they must pay a fee to secure identification.By the way, military identification does not contain an address, which was a requirement from the last voting bill passed. If you are nostalgic for the days when only land owners voted then keep the current rules in place that make it difficult for homeless people to vote.
If state legislators want to show that the state can stop the assault on home rule by challenging the Help America Vote Law, which requires registration deadlines no more than 30 days before an election, then vote for this bill.Who cares about the 11 states that allow voter registration within two weeks of the election or on the same day as the election without any reported problems. Who cares that Ohio would be the one state with a deadline more than 30 days before an election. Ohioans should not care that there are no reported problems in traditional Republican states of Alabama, South Dakota or Utah which has registration deadlines within one or two weeks of the election.
It is a good idea to continue to tinker with the voting process, so that Ohio can continue to viewed nationally as unable to administer an honest election.These last minute laws will only reinforce that national reputation.We should keep the courts busy with repeated challenges to voting procedures and challenges and contradictory statutes.Think how many lawyer we will keep in business over the next four years challenging this law.In a down economy, it is important to keep lawyers in business.This could be considered a mini-stimulus bill for lawyers in Ohio. Most people are not educated about the issues, so current elected officials who spend all day working on these issues should figure out ways to make it harder for the undereducated to vote.Please pass this law, because the last voting overhaul was so successful we need to keep going"
The vote in next week. The state legislators quizzed the Board of Elections Chairperson from Allen County who supported this bogus legislation for over one hour. They dismissed those opposed to the legislation after only a few questions, and the author of the bill left during the testimony of all those who opposed the legislation. So, this bill will pass. Our only hope is that Governor Strickland will veto this bill in an effort to allow the Secretary of State to craft a comprehensive bill that will fix all the problems with the voting system.
Brian Davis
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
