Post by Logan on Jun 20, 2016 7:04:28 GMT -6
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich on Friday vetoed a bill that critics said would have imposed a poll tax on voters seeking to keep polling places open due to emergencies.
The bill would have required voters seeking an extension for voting hours in county courts to post bond equal to the estimated cost of keeping polling places open, which could total tens of thousands of dollars. If the court decided against keeping the polls open, the voter would lose the bond.
GOP lawmakers said the requirement and others in the bill were needed after cases in which Southwest Ohio judges kept the polls open, in their opinion, unnecessarily.
Kasich, in his veto message, agreed there is a need to create a uniform process for county common pleas judges considering such requests. But he said the provision that eliminated a judge's discretion to waive the bond went too far.
Read more: www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/06/election_bill_vetoed_by_gov_jo.html
The bill would have required voters seeking an extension for voting hours in county courts to post bond equal to the estimated cost of keeping polling places open, which could total tens of thousands of dollars. If the court decided against keeping the polls open, the voter would lose the bond.
GOP lawmakers said the requirement and others in the bill were needed after cases in which Southwest Ohio judges kept the polls open, in their opinion, unnecessarily.
Kasich, in his veto message, agreed there is a need to create a uniform process for county common pleas judges considering such requests. But he said the provision that eliminated a judge's discretion to waive the bond went too far.
Read more: www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/06/election_bill_vetoed_by_gov_jo.html