Update on Republican vote suppression in Ohio

You may recall that I wrote about Republican vote caging efforts a while ago. I have an update. Things are not going well for the Republicans in Ohio. The Ohio courts are not siding with them. It's likely that they may not be able to suppress Ohioans right to vote in an effort to help John McCain win the Presidency.

Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, dealt a serious blow to Ohio Republican efforts to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters and at the same time vindicated Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's efforts to ensure all Ohioans have equal access to the polls. The Republican-dominated Supreme Court proved to be a check on Republican efforts to cause voter confusion with frivolous lawsuits. Additionally, U.S. Northern District Judge James S. Gwin ruled Brunner was properly upholding Ohio election laws in stating the Republican position "would lead to illogical results, potentially disenfranchising large numbers of voters."

In issuing this ruling, the courts have clearly rebuked the Ohio Republican Party for employing blatantly partisan tactics toward Brunner. With the presidential election fast approaching, Ohio Republicans have been ramping up their attacks on Brunner daily. Such attacks have led to accusations of Brunner attempting to disenfranchise voters and allegations that she has and will continue to break state election laws unless stopped. This is the same Republican Party that purposefully challenged thousands of voters in 2004 based solely on undeliverable pre-election mailings and wanted to void new voter registrations not printed on 80-pound paper. The courts have unveiled this blatant Republican hypocrisy.
(Toledo Free Press)

This could prove very important. In the last week, 538.com reports polls varying from Obama by 8% to McSame by 1%. If the Republican cannot suppress 4-5% of Obama's voters, it is likely that Obama might win Ohio. Ohio has gone for the winning Presidential candidate since ... forever.