Gettin' Messy in Ohio

Ohio is proving to be a battleground state in more ways than one. The Ohio Republican Party and the Secretary of State's office continue to feud over thousands of newly registered voters -- 600,000 since January, according to the AP. In the most recent development, the Ohio GOP is requesting from the state's 88 county election boards the registration records of thousands of voters who registered and cast ballots in the state during a seven-day window earlier this month.

This move comes on the heels of yesterday's court ruling. The full 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must provide each election board access to a database listing those new voters whose registration information does not jive with other state or federal databases. That number is estimated to be around 200,000. This decision reverses the finding of a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court issued last week. Brunner must comply with the order by Friday.

Complicated, I know. But the central question remains: what now? There's no easy answer. It's unclear what county election officials will do with the information once they get it and, perhaps more to the point, what Brunner will advise them to do. And the clock is ticking. Loudly.

h/t NPR's Pam Fessler

-- Sean Bowditch

7:44 PM ET | 10-15-2008 | permalink

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