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GOP Loses Appeal Of Ohio Voting Rule

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The Associated Press

Published: October 1, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal court has ruled against a GOP appeal of a disputed early voting window that allows Ohio voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied the Ohio GOP's request that ballots cast during the weeklong period be segregated from other ballots.

The court notes that the lower district court did not rule on the matter, and said the argument involves facts about how election officials handle absentee ballots that must first be presented to a district court.

The appeals court also overturned the district court's decision to issue a temporary restraining order against Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's instructions to poll observers.

Voters started casting ballots Tuesday as Barack Obama struggles to thwart a John McCain victory in Ohio four years after it tipped the election to President Bush.

Early participation appeared light; officials in the state's largest counties that are home to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Dayton each reported several hundred ballots cast by afternoon.

Many of those who voted cited convenience.

At stake: 20 electoral votes.

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