Block The Vote: Ohio SOS’s Plan Hurt Urban Voters
A new report by the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates found that these uniform voting hours created longer waits in urban counties. Residents of cities like Columbus experienced marathon lines on the last day of early voting. Even though more people turned out to vote in smaller counties than did in urban counties, rural Ohioans experienced little to no wait to vote:
Waiting times for in person voting during the last 3 days before election day was related to the number of voters, and even more so to county population: mostly less than 0.5 to 1.0 hour in almost all counties sampled with less than 160,000 population, but between 1-4 hours in all sampled counties with populations over 160,000. Therefore, the statewide uniform rules limiting weekend days, hours, and sites available for in-person voting resulted in unacceptably long waiting times for in-person voters in larger counties.
The report calls for greater flexibility in voting hours based on each county’s needs.
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By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.