Why judges matter: Republican-appointed federal appeals court tries to scare away Ohio Voters

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On Halloween, a federal appeals court issued a frighteningdecision that may cause widespread voter disenfranchisement in Ohio. 
At issue: what happens if someone votes in the wrong placebecause of an error by a poll worker? A district court issued an injunctionrequiring that those votes be counted.  The appeals court, however, stayedthe injunction, meaning that thousands of otherwise-valid votes will not becounted.

The decision came despite the fact that the district court’sfactual findings showed that poll-worker error results in thousands ofwrong-location ballots in Ohio, either because poll workers affirmativelymisdirected voters to the wrong polling location, or because poll workersprovided voters with  ballots for the wrong precinct instead of directingvoters to the correct polling location. 
Moreover, the appeals court’s decision ignored Ohio electionlaw, which requires poll workers to direct voters to the correctprecinct.  Specifically, the Ohio code states that:
if, upon review of the precinct votinglocation guide using the residential street address provided by the individual,an election official at the polling place at which the individual desires tovote determines that the individual is not eligible to vote in thatjurisdiction, the election official shall direct the individual to the pollingplace for the jurisdiction in which the individual appears to be eligible tovote... [emphasis added]

Given the district court’s factual findings and the actualtext of Ohio’s voter laws, you might wonder why there was even a challenge tothis injunction in the first place and how any court could come to such aconclusion. 
Well, the motion to stay the injunction was brought byOhio’s controversial Republican Secretary of State, Jon Husted, and granted bya three-judge panel of conservative judges, two of whom were appointed byPresident George W. Bush and one of whom was appointed by President George H.W.Bush. 
In short, the decision shows whyjudges matter, and how past presidents can leave a continuinglegacy of voter disenfranchisement.