Cuyahoga County officials to defy Blackwell's provisional-ballot order
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Scott Hiaasen and Robert L. Smith
Cleveland Plain Dealer Reporters

Cuyahoga County election officials said Monday they will give provisional ballots to every voter who asks for one on Election Day, defying a controversial order from Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

"We err on the side of the voter," said Michael Vu, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. "Nobody is going to be turned away at the polling location." 
 This puts the county at odds with Blackwell, the state's chief election official, who said last month that provisional ballots must not be given to voters who appear at the wrong precincts or polling locations.

Provisional ballots are special ballots for voters who believe they are registered, though their names do not appear on the voter rolls. The ballots are set aside on Election Day so local officials can determine later whether the voters are truly registered.

In 2000, nearly 23,000 provisional ballots were cast in Cuyahoga County alone.

Voting-rights groups say Blackwell's decision could harm thousands of first-time voters and others who may not know where their precincts are. Last week, the Ohio Democratic Party sued to overturn Blackwell's ruling, saying it violated the federal Help America Vote Act, a law that appears to encourage the use of provisional ballots on demand so legitimate voters aren't wrongly turned away.

On Monday, a group of Democrats, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, held a news conference at the Cuyahoga County elections board to denounce Blackwell's decision, which they said will disproportionally affect minority voters.

In the 2000 presidential election, the largest number of provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County came from predominantly black neighborhoods in Cleveland.

"We paid for the right to vote," said Jackson. "Our basic American inheritance will not be taken by any secretary of state."

But Blackwell, a Republican, said he's merely repeating a state law that says all ballots must be cast in the correct precincts - a law shared by 27 other states. Until now, he said, no one had complained that the provisional rule conflicted with federal law.

"We depend on election officials to adhere to the law," Blackwell said. "My job is to make sure there are no unreasonable barriers, and that we don't open up our system to widespread fraud."

Blackwell said poll workers must do their best on Election Day to steer voters to the proper voting location, rather than hand out provisional ballots. HAVA says state law decides when a provisional vote counts, so even if more provisional ballots are cast, they still won't count if they're cast in the wrong precinct.

"It's a reasonable expectation that we will help people vote in the right place, no matter how taxing it is," Blackwell said.

Ohio's provisional ballot procedures may ultimately be decided by U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo. He said he will make a decision on the Democrats' lawsuit by Oct. 15.

"If the courts tell us to change it, then we change it," Blackwell said.