Controversy

            The overwhelming consensus of the nation is that the Republicans were trying to suppress the Democratic, sometimes as far as the minority, vote, by attempting to keep the working class Obama voters out of the polls. 

            A thirty-five day early voting period instated before the election makes voting in the presidential election in 2008 and much better experience than in 2004. Long lines in 2004 caused 3 percent of the Ohio electorate, 174,000 Ohioans, to leave the line without voting. George Bush won by 118,000, according to a report by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. 

            Ohio Republicans tried to significantly cut back early voting days and hours. The number of early voting days would be cut to eleven days, excluding the Sunday before elections, disrupting the tradition of African-American voters to head to the polls after church. Activists collected enough signatures to discount the voting restrictions, however, Republicans tried to keep a ban on the three days before Election Day. In 2008, 93,000 Ohioans voted within three days before Election Day, according to Ari Berman of The Nation. Early voting during the weekend before Election Day was approved for early voting in October. 

            Berman and Ohio Senator Nina Turner (D) spoke about early voting on The Ed Show.

           In Berman’s article, “Ohio Early Voting Cutbacks Disenfranchise MinorityVoters,” published by The Nation, he states that African-Americans in Ohio favored Obama over McCain by 95 points in 2008. African-Americans are 28 percent of Cuyahoga County’s population, but was responsible for 56 percent of the early vote in 2008, according to the research of Norman Robbins of the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates and Mark Salling of Cleveland State University.

            Ohio Republicans first proposed that early voting hours in historically Democratic voting cities like Cincinnati be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. only on weekdays. These are the most inconvenient times for the working class.

            “The number who voted on nights or weekends was nearly 50 percent in Cuyahoga County,” Berman stated in the same article.

            Early voting hours in mornings, evenings and weekends in historically Republican voting counties were approved.

            Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) agreed with the Republicans and tried to deny Democratic counties the right to vote on weekends, early mornings and early evenings.

            Al Sharpton of PoliticsNation talked about the judge that revised the law denying civilians the right to vote the weekend before Election Day.