Ohio’s Absentee Ballot Deadline for Prisoners Upheld on Appeal

An Ohio law allowing unexpectedly hospitalized voters to get an absentee ballot as late as 3 p.m. on Election Day, while most voters, including prisoners, must request an absentee ballot by noon three days before, is constitutional, the Sixth Circuit ruled.

Plaintiffs Tommy Ray Mays II and Quinton Nelson Sr. were arrested the weekend before Election Day 2018, after the deadline to request an absentee ballot had passed. They brought a class action against the Ohio Secretary of State on behalf of similar “unexpectedly jail-confined” registered voters who hadn’t voted early and would remain incarcerated on Election Day. The district ...