Letter: Sign the petition to protect voting rights



Please don't complain if you don't vote. Your vote is your voice. For the November election we must know the rights of Ohio voters have to be protected. The legislators have imposed many restrictions:

1. Shortened the early-voting period from 35 days before the election to 22 days and banned most early weekend voting.

2. Cut early voting hours to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday with Saturday voting two days, and no voting in the evening or on Sunday, therefore, working people can't vote.

3. Prohibit counties from sending absentee ballot. Numerous other restrictions have been proposed in the state legislature that could be enacted at any time.

An amendment to the Ohio Constitution is proposed to create the Bill of Rights, since lawmakers are imposing new restrictions that will make it harder for Ohioans to exercise our right to vote. Here are the provisions of the Voters Bill of Rights:

1. Permit Ohioans to register to vote online.

2. Protect the 35-day early-voting period that has been the law in Ohio since 2006.

3. Guarantee early voting will include at least 12 hours on each of the final two weekends before the election, and weekend evening voting for the final two weeks before the election.

4. Allow Ohio voters to submit electronic applications for absentee ballots.

5. Continue Ohio's current voter-identifications requirements.

6. Guarantee no voter's ballot will be rejected due to the fault of a poll worker.

7. Ensure every vote where the voter's intent can be determined will be counted.

8. Allow the legislature and secretary of state to expand voting rights, but guarantee neither the legislature nor the secretary of state can take away the voting rights and opportunities spelled out in this Ohio Voters Bill of Rights.

9. Any person who attempts to commit voter fraud is guilty of a felony.

You can help overturn these voter restrictions by signing the petition circulating; we need to collect 387,247 valid signatures from registered voters by early July. Sign the petition, contact peluwilliams@gmail.com so we can put this issue on the ballot in November. Then Ohio voters can decide how we exercise our most basic constitutional right.

In the words of Rep. Alice Reece, "We are one step closer to allowing all Ohioans to have a voice and have a say in protecting their votes by putting this amendment on the ballot."

Lupe Williams


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  • When my family came here they went through the LEGAL process,as difined at that time.They did not SNEAK across the line and then demand to be free.

    I have no problem with those who freely choose to come here,and do so as the law sets forth.I most certainly have a problem with the release from prisons of 36,000 CONVICTED thieves,among them MUDERERS, that were awaiting deportation.

    I find it disgusting that those on the left,like you roadster,would equate LEGAL immigration with ILLEGAL immigration.There was ay one time a rule of law in this country.It would be nice if the DOJ started soing its job,instead of making every decision based on how many votes it will buy.

    I don't understand how you can be so concerned with ILLEGAL immigration,yet show no concern at all for the lawless President we now have!

  • bam, did you forget your family immigrated here? You appear to have a rather bigoted view of immigrants.

    Your denial of science is also rather short-sighted. You need to get out more, take a few classes, read more than a few books. The science on this goes back way beyond 150 years.

  • The day would be the first Tuesday after the first Monday of Novenmber.If you want a holiday make sure you know what day you want.Election day can NEVER be Nov.1.

    Yup buzzy,a large Democrat turnout generally means a Democrat win.And maybe the newly released 36,000 illegal aliens will all cast illegal ballots for the Democrat party that set them free,to steal,murder,or whatever other activity they want to do.

    But you still fail to answer the question buzzy.Yes or no,seems so simple.

    One thing though,if I am a climate denier does that mean I don't think there is any climate,or that I don't agree with the "climate scientist's" that don't have an accurate computer model to make the assumptions they make? I could say that you are denying that the Earth is many millions of years old and we have about 150 years worth of records,hardly enough to make any assertions.Or can you explain why any of the glaciers that covered the Earth retreated with any singe human on the planet?In other words,why did the Earth warm?

  • I agree.


    Again, conservatives are opposed because a large turnout means large Republican losses. The GOP's ideas are all losers - rape babies, war, tax cuts for billionaires, fossil fuels, corporate welfare, climate denial and poverty wages - so the only way to win is restrict access.


  • Why don't we just make the first Tuesday in November a national holiday and therefore everyone has no excuse not to vote.  

  • Teabagger has lost the pop vote in 5 of the last 6 Prez elections.  Old white and stupid is a shrinking demographic so conservative has to restrict and limit rights to stand a chance. The low info are scared by extremely rare examples of fraud and use this so those other people can't vote with ease. This is just bagger realizing Hillz starts with 240 electoral votes and only needs to win one more state to make history.



  • "I'm all for ONE DAY to vote"

    "I call that bold talk for a one eyed fat man!"....

    seriously though...it's easy to make this statement because you live in a relatively unpopulated area....but if you had to stand in line for 5 or 6 hours.....especially for an older person.....

    "the righties lose when the left votes enmasse"


    0.002397 percent.

    That’s how much voter fraud there was in Ohio last year, according to a report released by Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted. Out of about 5.63 million votes cast in a presidential election in this key swing state, there were 135 possible voter-fraud cases referred to law enforcement for more investigation.

    “Voter fraud does exist, but it’s not an epidemic,” Husted said. The report summarized a comprehensive review of alleged voter fraud and suppression that Husted ordered all 88 county boards of elections to conduct in January.  Most of these cases involved someone trying to vote more than once although in a majority, only one vote was eventually counted.

  • Yeah, this will totally throw the vote one way or another.

    Ohio: Husted to decide on double voters | Cincinnati.com

    May 16 2013
    » The Voting News

    Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted will decide whether 39 Hamilton County residents who cast more than one vote in the 2012 election should be reviewed by the the prosecutor’s office. Voter fraud is a felony crime in Ohio. So far six people have been charged in Hamilton County on voting-fraud related charges. Husted, a Republican, will be needed to break a tie after the county’s Elections’ Board split 2-2 along party lines Wednesday over whether the cases needed prosecutor review. The Democratic board members said more review isn’t needed and Republicans said the board didn’t have enough information to know if a crime had been committed.

    Among the 39 cases sent to Husted for a decision is the case of Bella Lipavsky. The 64-year-old Kenwood woman, who immigrated from Russia, told the Enquirer she thought she made a mistake on her absentee ballot and when she asked board of elections officials what to do they told her to cast a provisional vote.

    Those are 39 out of 62 anomaly votes discovered in the election, which saw 421,997 Hamilton County residents vote.

  • Your right Buzz, the righties lose when the left votes enmasse, just look at the Convicted double voters in Cincinnati, they were able to get out more than once to vote for Obama and then brag about it.

  • Or perhaps the goods the politicians are selling are not all that desirable.

    Ouch!  That's a painful truth!

    The political class -- Right, Left, and otherwise -- seems mostly interested in maintaining their comfy positions and benefits.  Instead of crafting smart, bipartisan solutions to real problems, they prefer self-righteous posturing and demonizing "the other side."

    No wonder the electorate is uninspired.  But that's no excuse for the dismal rate of voter participation in this country, which is hardly limited to minorities and the poor.   You don't sit on your hands and wait for the politicans to offer you "goods" that you're willing to "buy."  You get out there and light a fire under those politicians to either do their jobs, or get out of the way.

    I have to part company with some of my friends on the Left on this one.  I do oppose requiring photo I.D. to vote -- an utterly unnecessary policy aimed at an utterly nonexistent problem.  But I don't buy the Democrats' claims that voting is, gosh, terribly difficult and must be made easier.  Sheesh, we have absentee ballots.  Early voting.  Polls are open on election day from pre-dawn to post-dusk.  If you insist you "can't" vote in the current system, I'm afraid you're not trying very hard.

  • First, Ohio found zero cases of voter fraud. Not even bam's father.

    So Husted pushed for reform to protect us from the fraud, by restricting voting.

    After the republicans rammed that through, Husted now claims he had nothing to do with it.

    Ohio is recognized as second only to Florida in screwing up voting rights. Remember Blackwell guaranteeing Ohio for Bush, the long lines of people who couldn't vote because they closed the polls, lines because locations were shorted on the number of machines, machines built by republican donors on a no-bid contract?

    Study after study shows that voting restrictions hurt the working class, mostly Democrats. If you're working two jobs, when do you vote? Companies used to let employees some time off to vote, not any more. Can the local Board of Elections mail out your absentee ballot? Not without getting fined, or replaced by Husted.

    Why are republicans so afraid to bring the US up to India's Democratic voting standards, where even the homeless have no trouble voting? Government shouldn't be run like a business running specials - because it is government. Only the plutocrats want to do that.

  • Just teabagger making voting hard for single mom or forcing people to take a bus or two to vote. Teabagger thinks constitutional rights are comparable to a Walmart sale.


    The goal is to increase participation and make it easy. Conservatives lose when people vote en masse. This is why they restrict and limit our rights.

  • The entire argument regarding early voting is all about producing the illusion of "victims" that do not exist.  I agree its also about motivating the disinterested.  Perhaps if election day were a national holiday with a free ham sandwich and cup of coffe given to the voter once they cast their ballot, more interest would be generated amongst those who can't see beyond their own noses.  Even major retailers don't generally hold a sale for more than a week at a time and their in the business of generating interest in their products or sale items.  Perhaps the politicians should take a lesson from business.  Or perhaps the goods the politicians are selling are not all that desirable.

  • Voting should be as easy as possible. Nothing to see here but teabagger arguing for voting to be difficult.  We should get a patriotic paid day off to participate. Men laid their life's down for this important right. Teabagger wants to limit their sacrifice. 

  • I'm sure my dad will vote the party (D) line sometime before election day.And he has been dead since the mid eighties.

    I'm all for ONE DAY to vote,it seemed to work for a few hundred years,but now everyone is way to busy to take an hour out on ELECTION day,in which polls are opened from 6 A.M. until 8 P.M..

    Make the time.Make the commitment.Quit blaming other's for your own failures.

    Still no answer buzzy?Why can't you just say,Yes,I would still feel the same way if Obama had an R behind his name,or No I would feel differently?

    Simple question,yet you refuse to answer,I wonder why?

  • Lupe, give it a rest. Nobody has an excuse for not voting. Working people, all people have plenty of opprtunities to vote. You won't be happy until the state allows you and your liberal friends the right to vote for them! First off, the polls on election day are open from what, 6:30 am to 7:30 pm? So unless you're working a 13 hr shift, you have time to vote how we have done for hundreds of years - on election day! But if that doesn't work for you have 22 days, including 2 Saturdays to vote early, and still if that doesn't work for you, you can request an absentee ballot for any reason, and mail it in. 

    The reason days were cut and counties were prohibited from outmatically mailing absentee ballot applications to every resident is that many counties (in fact most counties) cannot afford to do so. Voting laws need to be fair acorss the state. But Most counties also cannot afford to staff there offices evening and weekends. Even the 2 Saturdays we have now are a hardship for many elections boards. And finally, many studies have shown that long periods of early voting do not result in higher voter turnout. 

  • Just teabagger whining voting should be restricted and limited.

  • "therefore, 
    working people can’t vote"     That's a lie !  Get there on Saturday.  Don't be so lazy.  This "early voting" is inane. People go to vote too early, and before they've adequately explored the issues or candidates.  Thus, votes are made early, and are thereby wasted.  The system was never perfect, but it is better WITHOUT early voting.  If voting is a problem, do what people did in the past - make arrangements to be able to vote.  Stop this catering to the uninterested.  If it is important enough to a person, they'll vote.  If they're not interested in something people went so far as to die for, then we're better off without their attendance.