Go Vote!!
It is time to cast your ballot on Election Day if you have not done it to this point. We have seen so many obstacles put in our way in order to cast our ballots, but November 6 is the last day. If you are forced to vote a provisional ballot, be careful. Election officials in Columbus have made it difficult to complete. If I had to vote a provisional ballot, I would ask the election precinct judge for help filling out the affirmation. The forms seems to indicate that it is up to the voter to complete, but the poll worker is supposed to complete the form. Bottom line is that everyone should avoid the provisional ballot like the you avoid a robocall. But if you do not have an ID or they cannot find you in the poll book and you are sure that you are voting at the correct precinct, then carefully complete the provisional ballot, the envelope and the affirmation form.
Secretary of State Jon Husted took away three weekend voting opportunities that we had in 2008. Some of the Boards of Elections had to hold early voting in poor locations without parking such as the Summit County office because the board split on finding a more appropriate place to host early voting. We had over one hour waits on two of the last days early voting in much of the state. The Secretary of State fought all attempts allow as many Ohioans as possible to vote. He attempted to limit the number of provisional ballots that were counted. The Secretary of State tried to cancel our agreement over voting for people without identification. We lost two days of Golden Week, and we had to pay to mail our ballots back after early voting. We had to have the same hours for early voting as Holmes County and small Vinton County even though we had nearly 10 times the population.
With all this adversity, it is critical to vote. We shall overcome in order to participate in democracy. If you have any problems call Election Protection. The number is 1-866-OUR-VOTE, and they can help with election questions, clarifications, and can send help if you think that your rights are being denied. NEOCH is offering rides from every shelter, and we can offer information about voting to anyone who calls about identification, provisional voting or where to vote. We want to work to get as many homeless people as possible to contribute to selecting our leaders.
Brian