Dear team,
No one can accuse Republicans of letting a good crisis go to waste, and they have not missed an opportunity during the coronavirus pandemic to push forward their own extremist agenda -- whether it's slashing taxes for the wealthy, attacking the Affordable Care Act or cutting food assistance.
Here in Ohio, we have a troubling new development. Republicans are using this crisis to make it harder for Ohioans to vote.
Here's a quick history lesson. In 2004, Ken Blackwell was the Ohio secretary of state. He tried every trick in the book to disenfranchise eligible voters, and unfortunately it worked. During the 2004 presidential election, some Ohioans waited in line up to 10 hours, and perhaps more than 170,000 would-be voters left before casting a ballot.
The 2004 election in Ohio was universally acknowledged as a disaster, so much so that bipartisan legislation was passed -- and signed into law by a Republican governor -- to update our state's election laws and address many of the issues that arose.
Then in 2008, Ohio went blue for President Barack Obama. And ever since, Ohio Republicans have been trying to roll back the reforms we made to our election laws.
One of the most urgent issues that arose in 2004 was a shortage of voting machines in majority African-American and university precincts -- so we put it in state law that each precinct must have at least one voting machine for every 175 registered voters in that precinct.
Now, Secretary of State Frank LaRose -- who brought in Ken Blackwell to oversee his transition and help staff up his office, the very same Ken Blackwell that completely bungled election oversight in 2004 -- could roll back that very protection. In recent weeks, as part of a package of so-called "reforms," LaRose is now pushing for consolidation of in-person polling locations in November -- meaning that fewer polling places will be open.
And to be abundantly clear, this would be a disaster for voting rights.
If Republicans consolidate polling places -- at LaRose's urging -- Ohioans could experience the 2004 Ken Blackwell days again, when overcrowded polling locations and hours-long lines made Ohio a national case study on how not to run elections.
Going backward on voter protection right now is troubling for a lot of reasons -- but first and foremost, why would we want to allow for a shortage of voting machines and therefore cause long lines at the polls, when we're dealing with a crisis that makes waiting in those long lines a deadly threat to public health?
At this critical moment, Ohio Democrats are leading the fight to protect the right to vote. We believe that our democracy is stronger when more people participate in the process, so we're working around the clock to make voting more accessible and fair.
This work is essential, but it isn't possible without your support -- can you chip in $5 to protect voting rights in Ohio?
Thanks,
Gretchen
Gretchen Bennett
Voter Protection Director
Ohio Democratic Party
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