Gov: Hearing on Strickland (D) Voting Residency Cancelled

This morning I spoke to Richard Brunner, an attorney for Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon) in the challenge to his voting residency, and Brunner told me that the Columbiana County Board of Elections has cancelled the hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday at 1:00 pm. This action came in response to a lawsuit filed by Strickland to enjoin the proceeding, on the ground that the hearing was not held within the required time period of ten days from the original complaint.

Brunner noted that the hearing could have been held within the required time but it was postponed by the Republicans in order to make sure that both Republican members of the Board of Elections would be present, in order to insure an eventual 2-2 deadlock along party lines. If the hearing had been held when required it would presumably have been decided 2-1 in Strickland's favor.

Brunner also said that even if the challenge is reviewed on the merits it could not possibly succeed because of a law that guarantees that federal legislators can continue to vote at the location where they last voted before taking office.

In the meantime, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate took matters into his own hands by casting an absentee ballot yesterday. The court proceeding will nevertheless continue because the absentee ballot has not yet been counted and could still be retrieved if necessary.