Press Room - Ohio Secretary of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell

Press Room - Ohio Secretary of State, J. Kenneth BlackwellVery Nasty

Ohio has rejected thousands of voter registrations because they are on the wrong paper.

COLUMBUS - Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell this week directed county boards of elections to accept otherwise valid voter registration forms in which applicants have failed to submit duplicative citizenship and age affirmation information. The directive is a result of a recent Federal Elections Assistance Commission advisory opinion allowing states discretion in interpreting certain new federal standards for voter registration forms. Previously, forms in which applicants failed to check boxes indicating U.S. citizenship and legal voting age were not considered complete even though the applicant attested to that information elsewhere on the form.

Also, the directive orders boards of elections to maintain minimum postal paperweight requirements for state voter registration forms.