Judge Rules for Democrats in Dispute Over Ohio Voting

• Ohio to Allow Provisional Ballots for Voters who go to Wrong Voting Place

A federal judge in Toledo ordered this state's Republican secretary of state on Thursday to count so-called provisional ballots filed in the wrong precincts, a victory for Democrats who contend such ballots are more likely to be cast by low-income and minority voters than others. The ruling, which could prove crucial in a close election, came as partisan battles over voting rules and voter registration escalated in swing states across the nation. In Oregon and Nevada, officials were looking into claims that a voter registration company owned by a Republican strategist had shredded Democratic forms or pressed voters to register Republican. The decision Thursday, by Judge James G. Carr of United States District Court in Toledo, blocked a directive by J. Kenneth Blackwell, the secretary of state, that election workers not give provisional ballots to people who appear at the wrong precincts. A 2002 law says that voters whose names do not appear on a precinct's rolls should be given provisional ballots, which require them to sign affidavits saying they are eligible to vote in that "jurisdiction."  [more ]