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In the media
Voting rights groups file lawsuit requesting that Ohioans in police custody be allowed to vote
The Campaign Legal Center, MacArthur Justice Center and left-leaning think tank Demos on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio requesting an emergency order from the judge to be directed to officials statewide that would require officers to notify detainees of their rights to submit an absentee ballot.
The lawsuit argues that it would violate the First and 14th amendments to deny people the right to vote because they are in custody. The state delivers ballots to jailed Ohioans, but the deadline for requesting such a ballot passed on Friday, Nov. 2, leaving some recently-arrested Ohioans without an option for voting, it states.
"We just filed this emergency lawsuit to protect the rights of eligible #Ohio voters who were recently arrested and are being held in jail, unable to get to the polls today," Demos's director of legal strategies tweeted.
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