Fox News Falsely Implies Obama Curtailing Military Voting in Ohio
A Fox News report Friday night suggested that the Democratic National Committee and President Obama’s campaign were suing to strip voting privileges from members of the military and their families in Ohio, even though the lawsuit in no way cuts back on that group’s voting rights.
“If President Obama gets his way, the special voting rights of some of America’s finest will be eliminated,” host Shannon Bream said. “The campaign is suing to keep members of the military from having extra time to cast their ballots in one key battlegound state.”
In actuality, the complaint filed by the Obama campaign would reinstate special voting rights that, until recently, extended to all Ohioans and not just those serving in the armed forces.
The issue stems from the Republican-controlled legislature’s decision late last year to alter early voting procedures. In the past, all voters could cast ballots in the days immediately prior to the election. But under the new law, only members of the military would be allowed to vote through the Monday immediately before the election, while early voting for non-military citizens would end the previous Friday.