Yes, this is what I like:
http://www.cleveland.com/...
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald on Tuesday morning asked the federal government to get involved in his fight with Republicans in Columbus over recent changes in state early voting laws.
FitzGerald wrote a letter Tuesday asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Steven Dettelbach, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to investigate Republican-backed changes that forbid counties from mailing out absentee ballot applications and reduce the number of days voters can cast their ballot early and in-person leading up to Election Day.
The request comes in response to a threat from Republican state lawmakers on Monday to slash Cuyahoga County’s state funding by $1.7 million if FitzGerald moves forward with plans to mail unsolicited absentee ballot applications.
The funding helps pay for essential county services including law enforcement.
“If folks in Columbus think we are going to be impressed by these hardball, blackmailing tactics, they’ve got another thing coming,” FitzGerald, a Democrat who is running for governor, said at a press conference Tuesday morning held outside the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Cleveland. - Northeast Ohio Media Group, 4/8/14
Here's some more info:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
In a press release, FitzGerald said the catalyst for his request is a measure Kasich signed banning county boards of elections from sending absentee ballot applications to registered voters. A state House amendment would impose a 10 percent cut in funding on any county that sends out such applications unsolicited.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) announced in February that voters won't be able to vote on Sundays before November's general election, while Kasich signed a measure eliminating the so-called "Golden Week" during which voters can both register to vote and cast an early ballot.
"As a former FBI agent, this is not a decision that I make lightly, but a thorough investigation is clearly warranted to examine the recent actions that would make it harder for working men and women to vote in 2014," FitzGerald said in the release. "I am especially disappointed that, unless they get their way, some politicians in Columbus are willing to hold hostage taxpayer funds that help ensure public safety here in Cuyahoga County. It is disturbing that anyone in government would use these funds as a political bargaining chip to get their way." - Huffington Post, 4/8/14
Here's a little background info:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
In February, the Ohio legislature moved to reduce early voting by one week, do away with registering and voting on the same day prior to Election Day, and place new restrictions on absentee ballot application mailings. And a little over a week ago, the Wisconsin Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, to shorten early voting, including cutting it altogether on weekend days.
In so doing, Republicans in these states shifted their strategy away from concerns over fraud, which have proved largely unfounded, to a new rationale that suggests fairness: uniformity.
Republican lawmakers and election officials argue that to avoid voter confusion and litigation urban and rural counties should follow the same rules.
In Ohio, the hodgepodge of rules raised concerns in both parties. Some urban counties had large enough budgets to send out absentee ballot applications and some smaller rural ones did not, election board directors said. Early voting hours also varied.
“Every voter should have an equal opportunity to vote under the same set of rules,” said Ohio’s secretary of state, Jon A. Husted, a Republican.
In addition, Gov. John R. Kasich, a Republican, signed a measure that cut “Golden Week,” during which voters could register and vote on the same day, over concerns about potential fraud. He also signed a measure that shifts the responsibility of automatically mailing absentee ballot applications to the secretary of state, instead of counties. The law leaves it up to the Legislature to finance the process, which until now was paid for by counties. - New York Times, 3/29/14
Here's what FitzGerald's is arguing:
http://www.wtam.com/...
He claims a budget amendment in the Republican-dominated Ohio House stripping 10 percent of local-government funding from counties that violate the law. Cuyahoga county plans a vote Tuesday asserting home-rule in the mailing of such ballots.
Meanwhile, Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said a reasonable resolution is possible. He says Ohio will mail absentee-ballot applications to all voters, making FitzGerald’s proposal redundant and illegal. He called funding cuts unnecessary.
Ohio’s elections chief is calling on both sides in a dispute over absentee-ballot distribution in Cuyahoga County to negotiate a resolution.
Husted contends a proposal by FitzGerald to assert home-rule powers and mail unsolicited, absentee-ballot applications to the county’s registered voters is redundant and illegal. - WTAM 1100, 4/8/14
FitzGerald's call to protect voting rights is starting to pay off:
http://www.cleveland.com/...
Cuyahoga County Council voted along party lines Tuesday night to assert the county’s right to mail unsolicited absentee ballot applications, despite a new state law that forbids the county from doing so.
Identical to a preliminary committee vote last week, eight council Democrats voted to approve County Executive Ed FitzGerald’s “voting rights law,” with council’s three Republican members dissenting.
The ordinance says the county will mail postage prepaid voting applications to county voters as necessary. FitzGerald, a Democrat who is running for governor, said the county would only do so if the state doesn’t. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has said he will mail the applications statewide before the upcoming November election, but any future mailings would require approval from the state legislature.
Republican council members said on Tuesday that FitzGerald’s new law is illegal under state law, and could put the county on a costly collision course with the state government.
“We’re setting ourselves up potentially for a lawsuit, and we’ve thrown up the gauntlets saying bring it on,” said Councilman Jack Schron, a Republican.
Council Democrats acknowledged the possibility of a legal battle over the measure, but said it’s a fight worth fighting.
“That’s the price we’re paying. Not for a stamp, but for our voters to exercise their rights,” said Councilwoman Sunny Simon, a Democrat who co-sponsored the measure. She added she believes the state law violates federal law. - Northeast Ohio Media Group, 4/8/14
And Ohio Republicans are starting to feel some pressure from FitzGerald:
http://www.dispatch.com/...
Facing critics from all sides, House Republicans pulled a measure yesterday aimed at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald that would have cut local-government funding to any county mailing absentee-ballot applications.
Gov. John Kasich told House GOP leaders he wanted the provision out of his off-year budget bill. Secretary of State Jon Husted said the unprecedented threat of a 10 percent cut was unnecessary, noting “our constituents don’t need to suffer in any way for the bickering going on over this issue.”
A few hours before House Republicans relented and pulled the provision from the bill, FitzGerald and the Cuyahoga County Council defied state officials by voting 8-3 to OK the mailing of unsolicited absentee-ballot applications to all Cuyahoga County voters.
A new state law says only the secretary of state is permitted to mail unsolicited applications.
“Tonight, we sent a clear message to Columbus — Cuyahoga County will not be intimidated when it comes to protecting the right to vote,” FitzGerald said in a statement.
House GOP spokesman Mike Dittoe said state Auditor Dave Yost can require recovery of taxpayer money from county officials who mail absentee applications in violation of state law. Yost first asserted his authority in 2011 when FitzGerald and Husted engaged in a similar fight over absentee applications, which later was resolved. - The Columbus Dispatch, 4/9/14
And the GOP may have given FitzGerald's campaign the boost it needs:
http://www.cleveland.com/...
A peculiar round of political gamesmanship ended Tuesday with Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic candidate for governor, getting pretty much everything he wanted.
Soon after the Cuyahoga County executive called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate it, Gov. John Kasich distanced himself from an Ohio House Republican effort aimed at discouraging FitzGerald from challenging new early voting rules.
Kasich’s public rebuke, along with one from Secretary of State Jon Husted, a fellow Republican, left the House GOP little choice but to pull its measure. Meanwhile, the Cuyahoga County Council, on party lines, approved FitzGerald’s plan to defy state law and allow the county to mail absentee ballot applications if the secretary of state does not.
When it was all over, FitzGerald, who has struggled to make a name for himself statewide, was making headlines across Ohio and discussing the ordeal on MSNBC. - Northeast Ohio Media Group, 4/9/14
FitzGerlad truly is looking for all Ohio voters and fighting to protect their right to vote. Whereas Governor John Kasich (R. OH) continues to be an asshole:
http://www.dispatch.com/...
Gov. John Kasich reaffirmed his position on gay marriage yesterday. He’s still against it.
Following an economic-development announcement at AmerisourceBergen in Lockbourne, Kasich said he supports Attorney General Mike DeWine’s appeal of an upcoming ruling by a federal judge that will require the state of Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and areas where it’s legal.
“He is going to appeal it; he should,” Kasich said in response to a reporter’s question. Kasich’s comments on the subject were his first since U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black announced his intentions on Friday.
DeWine’s office says if Black rules as he said he would, DeWine will appeal his decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and also seek an immediate stay to prevent the ruling from taking effect.
Black’s ruling is not expected to immediately affect Ohio’s ban on gay marriages inside the state.
“The people of the state, including me, voted years ago on a constitutional amendment to say that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Kasich said. “(Black) has overruled that in some respects, and that’s what a federal judge can do. But it doesn’t change the fact of how people voted.”
Kasich’s likely Democratic opponent in November, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, said the governor wasted an opportunity to send an important signal that Ohio is a tolerant and welcoming state.
“Not only is accepting the federal ruling the right thing to do, but increasingly businesses, conventions, and major sporting events are considering a state’s openness when deciding whether or not to bring their business here. Gov. Kasich’s announcement today was a step in the wrong direction for Ohio’s LGBT community and for our economy,” FitzGerald said in a statement. - Columbus Dispatch, 4/9/14
Lets help FitzGerald defeat Kasich this year by donating and getting involved with his campaign. You can click here to do so:
http://www.edfitzgeraldforohio.com/