COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voting rights advocates say recently passed Ohio voting laws create new hurdles for black and Hispanic voters casting absentee and provisional ballots.
The advocates argue these laws and similar orders by the state's elections chief unconstitutionally allow votes to be thrown out for ID errors.
The advocates say the laws let absentee ballots be rejected for mistakes such as the wrong birth month even though the voter supplied the correction information when requesting the ballot.
The latest version of a long-running voter ID lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Columbus. The lawsuit also argues a new law removed protection for voters casting provisional ballots without ID. The lawsuit says the absentee and provisional ballot changes adversely affect black and Hispanic voters.
The state Attorney General's Office declined to comment.