Late-Jailed Voters Can Get Absentee Ballots In Ohio, Court Rules

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio residents who are put in pre-trial detention centers prior to an election have a right to vote, according to a new decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The judgement comes following a lawsuit brought against the Ohio Secretary of State by three watchdog groups, Campaign Legal Center, Dēmos, and the MacArthur Justice Center.

“Eligible voters who are arrested and detained pre-trial by the state in the days leading up to an election deserve equal protection from the U.S. Constitution,” said Jonathan Diaz, legal counsel, voting rights at CLC. “A person’s ability to cast a ballot should not be determined by the date of their arrest or their ability to pay bail. Secretary of State Frank LaRose should ensure that all of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections are prepared to assist all eligible voters who are arrested and held in pretrial detention prior to Election Day to ensure that they can cast a ballot.”

According to Judge Michael Watson's opinion, the lawsuit against LaRose and the state of Ohio started in November 2018, when two men were arrested days before an election. Tommy Mays and Quinton Nelson were taken into custody on November 3 and November 2, respectively.

Mays asked how he could exercise his right to vote while in jail and no one could tell him, Watson's opinion said. Both Mays and Nelson filed an emergency lawsuit on November 6, Election Day 2018, asking the court to allow them to vote. The court found in favor of the two men and had absentee ballots brought to Mays and Nelson.

However, the case was settled only in relation to Mays and Nelson, but did not resolve the state's larger practices relating to voting and recently jailed suspects. The lawsuit morphed into a class action suit, representing all Ohioans denied the right to vote while in pre-trial detention.

"Ohio law does not disenfranchise someone until they are convicted of a felony, which is why the election scheme provides confined pretrial detainees and those convicted of a misdemeanor the opportunity to submit a request for an absentee ballot," Watson wrote.

Watson's decision means detainees in pre-trial holding can now receive an absentee ballot.

"A person does not lose the right to vote simply by being arrested, and the court's decision recognizes that a voter in jail receives the same protections as every other voter, and must be treated just like any other voter," said Laura Bishop, voting rights project attorney at MacArthur Justice Center.