There are stories circulating that president Obama is trying to suppress military voters from their early voting rights. I listened to the arguments made by the conservatives making these claims, as it initially sounded preposterous, and I decided to do my own research instead of relying on fact-checking sites or having Jon Stewart summarize it for me as I often do. I decided to look up the actual suit the president filed, and read the language for myself.
What I found, was that the president never filed a suit. The suit was filed by 3 complaintants: 1) Obama For America (a pro-Obama PAC) 2) The Democratic National Committee and 3) The Ohio Democratic Party versus two defendants 1) Jon Husted (Ohio Secretary of State) and 2) Mike Dewine (Ohio Attorney General).
I read the suit in it's entirety, but the 1st line of the suit didn't have any legalese, and was easy even for me to understand.
"Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit to restore in-person early voting for all Ohioans during the three days prior to Election Day – a right exercised by an estimated 93,000 Ohioans in the last presidential election."
Here's a link to the suit:
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/ObamaforAmericavHustedcomplaint.pdf
Now, in the interest of disclosure, 15 groups representing the military filed a motion to intervene in the suit. That led me to believe the military was opposed to the suit because it shortened the early voting rights extended to members of the military (and that's what conservatives are saying and using as an argument that Obama hates the military). So members of the military did oppose it. That was pretty concerning to me. I'm a former Marine, and if pro-military groups were concerned, so was I. So I looked up and read the motion filed by pro-military groups and actually read the motion:
"Although the relief plaintiffs seek is an overall extension of Ohio’s early voting period, the means through which Plaintiffs are attempting to attain it—a ruling that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to grant extra time for early voting solely to military voters and overseas citizens—is both legally inappropriate and squarely contrary to the legal interests and constitutional rights of Intervenors, their members, and the courageous men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces."
The pro-military groups filed the motion to intervene because the language of the complaint didn't distinguish that the military had extra time to vote if the suit (as written) was ruled favorably by the court. It wasn't because the military was worried that the president wanted to "suppress" the military vote. How do I know? More research: The three aforementioned democratic plaintiffs filed a motion in support of the military members intervention. Strangely it's titled, "MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MILITARY GROUPS’ MOTION TO INTERVENE". And the language in it is very plain as well:
"Neither the substance of its Equal Protection claim, nor the relief requested, challenges the legislature’s authority to make appropriate accommodation, including early voting during the period in question, for military voters, their spouses or dependents. The question before the Court is whether, in the circumstances of this case, the State of Ohio may arbitrarily and without justification withdraw from all other Ohio eligible voters the same right they previously had to vote the weekend and Monday before Election Day."
This is about as clear as it gets. To summarize (like what I usually have Jon Stewart do for me, only now I'm doing it for you) Republicans were the ones suppressing voting in Ohio. Democrats tried to get it reinstated. Republicans lied and said that Obama was trying to suppress military votes. Military members were concerned with the language filed in the brief not distinguishing them as being able to have early voting rights. Democrats filed a motion supporting the military's motion to intervene.
Once you look at the facts and not what pundits tell you, either what you already thought was right, or what you thought was wrong. I thought I was right before, and now I know I am.
But don't rely on me and my links, look up the filing so that you also know for sure that the horse shit these people are spewing is a twisted fabricated attempt to distract us from the facts. The facts don't support that the president wants to keep the military from voting. He's actually more popular than Mitt Romney with the military, despite what republicans might have you think. Again, don't take my word for it. Look it up.
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