Ohio court okays voter challengers at centres
AP, Cincinnati
A federal appeals court has cleared the way for challengers to be present at polling places throughout Ohio, ruling early yesterday that their presence on Election Day was allowed under state law. A three-judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to grant emergency stays of two federal judges' orders Monday that barred voter challengers from political parties. The judges also consolidated the two appeals, which stemmed from separate lawsuits in Cincinnati and Akron. Alphonse Gerhardstein, attorney for the plaintiffs in the Cincinnati case, said early yesterday that he appealed the 6th Circuit decision to the US Supreme Court. The federal appeals court said that while it's in the public interest that registered voters cast ballots freely, there is also "strong public interest in permitting legitimate statutory processes to operate to preclude voting by those who are not entitled to vote."
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