On Saturday Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney took to Facebook to lie about President Obama and the Obama for America lawsuit to restore early voting for Ohio voters. We’ve known for a while that Mr. Romney had no trouble saying anything to get the GOP nomination. Now we have an example of Romney saying anything, regardless of the truth, in his campaign for the presidency.
In his Facebook post Romney writes:
President Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage. The brave men and women of our military make tremendous sacrifices to protect and defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to protect their fundamental right to vote. I stand with the fifteen military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I’m entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I’ll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them.
Romney’s claim is so false that even his staff will not back up his claim:
Think Progress, who initially reported on Romney’s false claim (here) reports that the Romney campaign is totally unable to back up their candidate’s claim:
Romney’s spokesman, Ryan Williams, in an interview Saturday could point to no place in Obama’s lawsuit that seeks to restrict the rights of military voters…
Romney’s legal counsel, Katie Biber, said creating two separate classes of Ohio voters does not violate the 14th Amendment, though she also did not offer evidence that Obama’s lawsuit would make it tougher for members of the military to vote…
The Obama for America campaign has responded to Romney’s false accusation with this statement from Obama for America Veterans and Military Family Vote Director Rob Diamond:
“Mitt Romney and his campaign have completely fabricated a claim that the Obama campaign is trying to restrict military voting in Ohio. In fact, the opposite is true: the Obama campaign filed a lawsuit to make sure every Ohioan, including military members and their families, has early voting rights over the last weekend prior to the election. The case filed with the court could not be clearer on this point.The real story of what is happening in the Buckeye State is that Mitt Romney supports the Republican effort to stop people from voting by restricting their access to the polls. In 2008, more than 93,000 Ohioans utilized early voting in the three days before the election. In complete disregard of the will of Ohio voters expressed last year through the referendum process, the Republican legislature is attempting to remove from the vast majority of voters — including veterans of our armed services — the early voting rights they enjoyed in 2008. This latest Republican attack on rights of voters is shameful — and so is Mitt Romney’s endorsement of it.”
When a candidate can’t win on his or her merits the only thing they can do is tell as many lies as possible, hoping that a few will stick. This is an early sign of Mitt Romney’s Dying Campaign.
Even Newt Gingrich called him a liar during the primary contest. And for once, Newt was right.
Republicans telling lies?!?!? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.
The optics of the issue could be a problem for the president’s campaign, though. The National Guard Association and other military groups have fired back against the lawsuit, asking the Ohio judge overseeing the case to be able to join the state in defending the law. Service members typically get more time than others to send in absentee ballots since they may be serving in an overseas or domestic location that is not close to their home polling station.
Early Voting in Ohio — The pertinent facts
In General: Some states have early voting for all for any reason, some have restrictive procedures (i.e. being out of the country on Election Day), and some states do not allow early voting.
Ohio 2008: The Democrats controlled the legislature and had earl voting for all for any reason because this policy would increase the Democrat turnout.
Ohio 2010: The Republicans gained control of the legislature and restricted early voting to only those in the military because this would increase Republican turnout.
Obama’s lawsuit asks the Court to bailout what the Ohio Democrats lost in the 2010 elections, – the legislature’s right to change the early voting rules. Obama’s arguments are ‘crap’ – (the voters “suffer direct and irreparable injury” and/or military early voting only is “arbitrary”). Voters can register to vote by mail.
Early voting costs something; the funds could be better spent somewhere else. This “controversy” is about two weak candidates that are both looking for a political party turnout edge in the ‘battleground’ state of Ohio.