Stivers' supporters go to Ohio Supreme Court over provisionals

Two supporters of 15th Congressional District candidate are suing Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the Ohio Supreme Court over her alleged advice on how to handle provisional ballots.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Stivers' (R-Columbus) supporters allege that Brunner (D) has told the Franklin County Board of Elections to count provisional ballots "even if voters do not print their names and only sign them" so long as they can be identified. More than 3 percent of ballots fall into this category.

Voters are required to print and sign their ballots by law. However, Brunner issued a directive before the election saying provisional ballots may not be rejected because of poll worker error, such as failing to properly inform voters they need to print and sign their names.

The elections board may start counting provisional ballots Saturday so the case asks for an injunction to prevent the ballots from being removed from their envelopes, at which point they can't be distinguished from others.

Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law has posted an explination of how provisional ballots are to be treated in Ohio.

First, the elections board must determine whether the person voting provisionall is eligible to vote by looking at three pieces of evidence: the board's records, the "affirmation" document filled out by a voter saying he or she is qualified and any additional information provided by the voter to the board.

Second, six criteria must apply to the ballot for the board to be able to count it. Third, the ballot can be disqualified from counting if it runs afoul of eight other criteria.

"Significantly, the code does not state that provisional ballots may be rejected solely for failure to provide proper ID," OSU writes. Ballots may be rejected if they lack Social Security information and a "completed...form stating that they do not have proper ID...."