Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s recent decision to prohibit early voting on nights and weekends in all districts has many concerned about the effect on voter turnout in the state, particularly among low-income and minority communities. But one Republican Party chairman is content to suppress votes among this vulnerable demographic. Doug Preisse, chairman of the Republican Party in Franklin County, which contains the city of Columbus, admitted in an email to the Columbus Dispatch that black voters would now have a more difficult time voting:
I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — (read African-American) — voter-turnout machine. Let’s be fair and reasonable.
If we aren't going to accommodate people with early voting, especially on weekends, then this country needs to make election day a national holiday. Not everybody is given time off to vote by their employer, and not everyone gets off work by 7 when the polls close.
