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Election Rights Advocate Allege New Voter ID Violations
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Election rights advocates say recently passed Ohio voting laws create new hurdles for minority voters casting absentee and provisional ballots.
The advocates argue the laws and similar orders by the state’s elections chief unconstitutionally permit votes to be thrown out for ID errors.
The advocates say the laws allow absentee ballots to be rejected for mistakes such as the wrong birth month even though the voter supplied the correction information when requesting the ballot.
The updated version of a long-running voter ID lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Columbus.
The lawsuit also argues a new law removed protection for voters casting provisional ballots without ID. The lawsuit says the absentee and provisional ballot changes adversely affect black and Hispanic voters.
The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.