Ohio SoS Jon Husted Sued For Issuing Instruction Defying Judges' Orders Re: Provisional Ballots

I know, I know; in real life, "SoS" stands for "shit on a stick," and that's what it should mean regarding Jon Husted. But Husted is the Republican Secretary of State of the great State of Ohio, and in direct defiance of multiple court orders, Husted issued last-minute instructions to election officials not to fill out one required section of provisional ballots verifying what form of ID was provided by the voter, thereby leaving the information to be filled in by the voter... or not. If the field remains blank, the provisional ballot is automatically disqualified. If voters forced to use provisional ballots are not properly instructed in filling out this field, there is no telling how many will have their otherwise legitimate ballots discarded.

Husted has until Monday to respond to the order in court, which has said it will decide by Nov. 17, which is when provisional ballots are to be counted.

As if that were not enough, poll workers dealing with provisional ballots will be trained by the "Voter Integrity Project" of "True the Vote," a Tea Party org which trains them "beyond" what the SoS instructs. Right. (How can that possibly be legal?)

You know, this is the third presidential election since 2000, the one in which Florida SoS Katherine Harris arranged the theft of the state's vote for GeeDubya Bush, largely as a means of self-promotion. It worked. Bush took office (I'm sure as hell not going to say he was elected, because he wasn't in any meaningful sense) and ended up as de facto president for eight years. Republicans noted the ease with which this was accomplished, and never looked back: election theft has become the primary means of Republican office-taking ever since. Ohio in 2012, like Florida in 2000, is liable to be a critical state for either candidate. Late yesterday, one of the poll-averaging sites reported an average Obama state poll lead in Ohio of about 3 points. If Rmoney, with an assist from Husted, takes the state, we could well end up with another illegitimate president.

Ideally, the judge should order Husted held for contempt of court, in custody without bond and without outside contact until the election is over, and moreover, no Voter Integrity Project member should be permitted to serve as a pollworker. In short, no special Republican instructions should be in force regarding any procedural aspect of voting.

Failing that, if the GOPers steal another presidential election, I'll renounce my commitment to nonviolence. This has got to stop. NOW. We want our democracy back!