Romney Caught in Lie About The Military Vote in Ohio

By Lauren Michelle Kinsey On August 6, 2012 · 17 Comments

The truth on this issue is that if President Obama’s position prevails, everyone, including Ohio’s currently active military and Ohio’s veterans, will have a right to utilize the final 3 days of early voting. If Romney’s position prevails, 913,000 Ohio veterans will lose access to the final 3 days of early voting.

President Obama is trying to restore early voting in Ohio and make it easier for ALL Ohioans to vote.

“Mitt Romney is trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes and use our veterans as props to further his lies.”

~ Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), Member, VoteVets.org Board of Advisors; Iraq War veteran

This morning I recorded Iraq Veteran and former US Rep. Patrick Murphy speaking about Mitt Romney’s lies about the purpose of President Obama’s attempts to restore early voting in Ohio….

Here’s the story on how Mitt Romney was caught misleading people about this issue…

On Thursday, August 2nd, Breitbart.com published some tripe about President Obama making it harder for Ohio’s military voters to vote. On Friday, in Las Vegas, a report asked Mitt Romney his reaction to the Obama campaign’s “filing suit in Ohio to try to reduce early voting by a few days for military living overseas and some American civilians living overseas.” On Saturday, Mitt Romney posted this on FB…

“President Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage. The brave men and women of our military make tremendous sacrifices to protect and defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to protect their fundamental right to vote. I stand with the fifteen military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I’m entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I’ll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them.”

In that statement, Mitt Romney is clearly claiming that the Obama campaign is seeking to restrict military voting in Ohio. Snopes.com rates that claim as FALSE. PolitiFact Ohio rates that claim as FALSE.

On Saturday, August 4th Obama for America Veterans and Military Family Vote Director Rob Diamond issued the following statement…

“Mitt Romney and his campaign have completely fabricated a claim that the Obama campaign is trying to restrict military voting in Ohio. In fact, the opposite is true: the Obama campaign filed a lawsuit to make sure every Ohioan, including military members and their families, has early voting rights over the last weekend prior to the election. The case filed with the court could not be clearer on this point. The real story of what is happening in the Buckeye State is that Mitt Romney supports the Republican effort to stop people from voting by restricting their access to the polls. In 2008, more than 93,000 Ohioans utilized early voting in the three days before the election. In complete disregard of the will of Ohio voters expressed last year through the referendum process, the Republican legislature is attempting to remove from the vast majority of voters — including veterans of our armed services — the early voting rights they enjoyed in 2008. This latest Republican attack on rights of voters is shameful — and so is Mitt Romney’s endorsement of it.”

Here’s what Joe Vardon, political reporter from The Columbus Dispatch tweeted on Saturday evening…

Here’s the article, Vardon wrote about it.

On Saturday, Judd Legum of Think Progress wrote this about it.

Today, August 6th, Jon Sholtz, a two-tour veteran of Iraq and Chairman of VoteVets.org wrote this about it.

Today is the 47th anniversary of the voting rights act. How disgusting that on this day, a man who wants to be President of the United States would support legislation that makes it harder for people, including veterans, to exercise their right to vote? He’s even willing to blatantly lie in order to hide what the GOP in Ohio is trying to do. If you need better background in order understand what’s happening, here are some frequently asked questions…

What happened to early voting in Ohio?

· In the 2008 presidential election, more than 93,000 Ohioans utilized early voting in the three days before the election.

· Earlier this year, Ohio’s GOP-controlled legislature passed an election reform law that cut off early voting three days before the election.

· More than 300,000 Ohioans signed a petition to secure a referendum on the November 6th ballot in order to repeal this law. Rather than face the referendum, the legislature, at the urging of Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, decided to repeal the law.

· However, “in an unusual turn of events,” Ohio Republicans managed to keep a technical provision of the bill that shortens the early voting process and eliminates the last three days of early voting for all citizens except military personnel and their families.

What does that mean for voters?

In addition to reducing Ohioans’ access to the polls, the legislature created inequality between military voters who can cast early ballots in person through the day before the election and all other voters who only have until 6 p.m. on the Friday before the election to vote in-person absentee.

Why is there a lawsuit?

These restrictions are a violation of the equal protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit seeks to make sure that all Ohioans, including military members and their families, can exercise their right to vote early. “This lawsuit seeks to treat all Ohio citizens equally under the law,” said Obama for America attorney Bob Bauer. “We want to restore the right of all to vote before Election Day.”

The facts show that Romney’s claim about restricting military voting is a blatant distortion. The purpose of the lawsuit is to ensure that every Ohioan—including military voters—has the right to make their voices heard at the polls.

What can I do?

You can join in the call to demand that Mitt Romney support President Obama’s attempt to restore early voting in Ohio.