Fair Elections Ohio v. Husted

47 F. Supp. 3d 607, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129425, 2014 WL 4639173
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 16, 2014
DocketNo. 1:12-CV-00797
StatusPublished

This text of 47 F. Supp. 3d 607 (Fair Elections Ohio v. Husted) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fair Elections Ohio v. Husted, 47 F. Supp. 3d 607, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129425, 2014 WL 4639173 (S.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

S. ARTHUR SPIEGEL, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment: Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 109), Plaintiffs’ Response in Opposition (doc. 117), and Defendants’ Reply (doc. 119); and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (docs. 110, 111, 113), Defendants’ Response in Opposition (doc. 116), and Plaintiffs’ Reply (doc. 120). For the reasons indicated herein, the Court DENIES Defendants’ Motion and GRANTS IN PART Plaintiffs’ Motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Under Ohio law, jail confinement does not negate voter eligibility. Persons who are in jail on pending charges, whether misdemeanor or felony, for which they are awaiting trial and are not convicted, have the right to register and vote. Ohio Rev. [610]*610Code § 3509.08(A). Only convicted felons in state custody lose the right to vote, and only during the pendency of their incarceration. Ohio Rev.Code § 2961.01(A). As such, convicted misdemeanants do not lose the right to vote while detained (doc. 113).

Ohio law provides two basic methods by which a registered voter can cast a ballot: by voting in person at an assigned location on election day, or by using one of the “absent voter’s ballot procedures” pursuant to Ohio Rev.Code § 3509. Ohio law and practice provide for five methods of absentee voting. First one can vote remotely by mail (doc. 111). Second, one can vote early, in person, at the board of elections or other designated location (Id.). The final three ways apply to those in “special circumstances,” that is overseas uniformed military, those subject to “disability or confinement,” or those in “unforeseen hospitalization” (Id.).

For conventional absentee voting, a request must be received by hand delivery before 6:00 P.M. on the Friday before Election Day, or by mail before noon on the Saturday before Election Day at the relevant board of elections. Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03. Those in “special circumstances” including those confined under a sentence for a misdemeanor or awaiting trial on a felony or misdemeanor, can submit ballot applications up to 90 days before an election. Ohio Rev.Code § 3509.08(A). After receiving and verifying confined voter ballot applications, boards of elections send two-person teams to obtain the ballots from those confined at nursing homes, private homes, hospitals, and jails (doc. 113). While such teams visit nursing homes as long as a month before the election, boards of elections can and do wait until Election Day itself to send a team to the county’s jail or jails, to avoid obtaining absentee ballots from persons who would have been released before Election Day (Id.).

The practical outcome of this current framework means that the Confined Voter procedure is unavailable for a voter who is arrested after 6:00 P.M. on the Friday before Election Day (doc. 113). A registered voter who has not voted early and who falls within such window would not be able to vote unless released in time to vote in person on Election Day (Id.).

The Revised Code provides an exception for late absentee voting in hospitals. Ohio Rev.Code § 3509.08(B). Those who cannot visit the polls in person because the voter or the voter’s minor child is “confined in a hospital as a result of an accident or unforeseeable medical emergency” can qualify for a special voting procedure if an absentee ballot application is delivered to the relevant board of elections by 3:00 P.M. on Election Day. Ohio Rev.Code § 3509.08(B)(2). A late hospital voter can request that the absentee ballot be entrusted to a family member for delivery, otherwise, the board must send a two-person team of board employees representing the two major political parties. Ohio Rev.Code § 3509.08(B). No corresponding provision exists for persons confined in jail on Election Day because of an arrest or misdemeanor conviction occurring after 6:00 P.M. the preceding Friday.

This case involves this very small subset of Ohio voters, legally entitled to vote under law, but impeded from doing so by their detention by the state. Plaintiffs contend these voters, who are “late-jailed electors,” that is, taken into custody after 6:00 P.M. on the Friday before election day and held through election day, should be treated similarly to “late-hospitalized electors,” to whom the Boards of Elections send out staff to assist with voting pursuant to Ohio Rev.Code § 3509.08(B)(1).

[611]*611In response, Defendants contend that Plaintiff The AMOS Project (“AMOS”) lacks standing to bring this action, regardless of the fact that the Court already found such standing. Defendants further argue that the Boards of Elections essentially have too much to do in administering the elections to be able to send out staff to jails to accommodate late-jailed electors. Defendants further contend those in jail are more difficult to access than those in hospitals. Finally Defendants argue the burden on late-jailed electors, who could have voted early under Ohio law, is minimal.

Plaintiffs originally requested emergency injunctive relief, which the Court denied. The Court found the request too close to the actual election date and potentially disruptive to a smooth election process. The Court further found Plaintiffs had not produced evidence demonstrating the number of registered voters likely to fall within the category of “late-jailed” such that the extent of harm was “too speculative.”

Plaintiffs proceeded with discovery, and now' proffer expert evidence that at least, if not more, than 400 late-jailed voters state-wide were impeded from voting in the 2012 election. Indeed, Plaintiffs elicited testimony from a late-jailed elector, Jeffrey Wilkins (“Wilkins”), who fell squarely into the category (doc. 113). Wilkins testified he refrained from voting absentee because he preferred going to the polls in person (Id.). In fact, he intended to work as a volunteer on Election Day, at a church in Cheviot (Id.). Unfortunately, however, Wilkins was arrested following a dispute with his stepson, and was confined at the Hamilton County Justice Center (Id.). Wilkins asked three deputies whether he would be able to vote, and he was ultimately informed in the negative (Id.). Had his dispute resulted in his hospitalization, Wilkins would have been able to vote (Id.).

Plaintiffs have moved for summary judgment under federal constitutional theories and the Voting Rights Act. Plaintiffs contend the state law that treats them differently than late-hospitalized electors affects their fundamental right to vote and violates equal protection.

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Bluebook (online)
47 F. Supp. 3d 607, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129425, 2014 WL 4639173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fair-elections-ohio-v-husted-ohsd-2014.