Deja Vu: Ohio Fighting About Absentee Ballots – Again

[Image courtesy of weprowl]

[I]f you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You’ve been here before?
How am I going to be an optimist about this?
How am I going to be an optimist about this?
-Bastille, “Pompeii“

Back in 2011, I blogged about the dispute over absentee ballots between Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) Executive Ed FitzGerald. The argument was over whether Cuyahoga had the authority to spend its own funds to mail absentee ballot applications to county residents – a dispute that was ultimately resolved through a compromise whereby the state would mail applications in 2012 and Cuyahoga agreed not to mail applications on its own in 2011. (This last sentence has been corrected to clarify the specifics of the 2011 deal.)

Two years later, the state is preparing for statewide elections and the dispute is once again pushing its way to the front page. FitzGerald, a Democratic candidate for governor, is preparing to mail absentee applications to county residents in defiance of state laws reserving that authority to Husted, who is seeking re-election as Secretary of State as a Republican. That prompted state legislators to seek to punish Cuyahoga by withholding state funds if the mailings went ahead – an effort that Husted and GOP Governor John Kasich stopped in its tracks. The Columbus Dispatch has more:

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.

The battle isn’t over yet; legislators believe that the state can still withhold the funds without legislation, while FitzGerald is vowing to fight on and get the federal government involved if necessary:

“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.

House Republicans inserted the local-government fund provision into Kasich’s budget plan on Monday as part of a wide-ranging package of amendments. The Kasich team was upset when it heard about the provision.

“I just don’t think you use the local-government fund — it’s not there to be used like that. I just think it was not a well-conceived idea,” Kasich said.

Before the plan was pulled, FitzGerald also blasted it.

“The state’s actions are no more than yet one more blatant attempt to suppress the votes of the urban poor and minorities by coercing their local governments into succumbing to the state’s voter suppression measures or facing cuts to police, fire and other public safety services,” FitzGerald said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. attorney for northern Ohio, Steven M. Dettelbach.

FitzGerald called for a federal investigation. Michael Tobin, a spokesman for Dettelbach in Cleveland, said they will review the request.

For his part, Secretary Husted, in a increasingly familiar role, is asking for restraint all around:

Husted, who will mail absentee applications to all voters for the November election, urged calm. “I think it’s time to stop playing games and resolve the issue like reasonable adults,” he said.

Obviously, partisanship and regional tensions are a major factor, but it does seem like the fights about absentee ballots in Ohio are a little too familiar. It certainly doesn’t make sense for Cuyahoga voters to receive two absentee applications, one from the state and one from the County; perhaps there is room for another compromise whereby Cuyahoga pays for and mails the applications as part of the Secretary’s responsibility to see that such mailings occur?

Ohio should be able to find a way past these disagreements – but in an election year in one of the nation’s most competitive states, will they?

How am I going to be an optimist about this?