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2018 was a big election year in Ohio. Republicans held onto all five statewide executive offices including governor and super majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate. But there were a few bright spots for Democrats, among them the reelection of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and the election of two Democrats to the Ohio Supreme Court.With election 2018 over, the focus now shifts to governing. Stay connected with the latest on politics, policies and people making the decisions at all levels affecting your lives.

Decisions Are Expected Soon in Ohio's Remaining Voting Rights Lawsuits

Daniel Tokaji
M.L. SCHULTZE
/
WKSU

A recent federal court decision upheld an Ohio law that wiped out the so-called Golden Week, the period of time when voters can both register and cast a ballot at the same time. That’s being appealed. And as Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, that isn’t the last of legal questions and lawsuits.

 

Ohio State University law professor Dan Tokaji says two big federal lawsuits could be decided soon. One is over requirements for how counties evaluate how voters fill out absentee and provisional ballots, and the other involves removal of some voters who haven’t voted in several years from the voter rolls. And he says more lawsuits could be on the way, over a variety of issues.

 

“Those could have to do with early voting, absentee voting, voter registration, voting machines, identification rules, polling place operations – we’ve seen all of these issues rise in past elections.

 

Tokaji says Ohio’s prominence as a battleground state makes it more likely court battles over voting will be pursued.

 

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.