Anyone who wants to can view the actual complaint filed against Ohio. But much like Mitt Romney with Jared Diamond's book, I'm pretty certain that Mike Flynn never actually bothered to read what he was citing.

Flynn claims that the lawsuit is an attempt:

"to restrict [service members'] ability to vote in the upcoming election."

Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit to restore in-person early voting for all Ohioans during the three days prior to Election Day – a right exercised by an estimated 93,000 Ohioans in the last presidential election.

The very first sentence of thecomplaint reads:The request is simple and direct:In no universe is that the same as sayingIt's pretty much the opposite of that.

Next comes the claim that:

"the Obama for America Campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in OH to strike down part of that state's law governing voting by members of the military."

The lawsuit is aimed at correcting a legislative screw-up. Long story short, Ohio's legislature passed three versions of bills that deal with early voting. The first one was HB 194, and it was so widely despised that a coalition of Ohioans managed to get a referendum placed on the ballot to repeal it. Republicans, knowing that they were about to get their asses handed to them, repealed most of the provisions of HB 194, but kept the new restrictions on early voting in place. Voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voter Act (UOCAVA) can still vote early during those three days, but everyone else is barred from the polls. The lawsuit is arguing that those provisions that were included in HB 194 should be enjoined, as they were all supposed to be blocked until put to a referendum.

The state law that the lawsuit is seeking to keep from being enforced isn't, therefore, one governing military voters, but one that prevents non-military voters from casting ballots. Again, if Mike Flynn bothered reading the lawsuit before commenting, he would know that.

Lastly, we have this:

"the Democrat lawsuit is intended to disenfranchise some unknown number of military voters."

Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from implementing or enforcing the HB 224 and SB 295 changes to Ohio Rev. Code § 3509.03, thereby restoring in-person absentee voting on the three days immediately preceding Election Day for all Ohio voters .

Again, the lawsuit kind of states in direct terms what relief is being sought. And you'll never guess what - they're not trying to disenfranchise anyone!See where they call for disenfranchising military voters? NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE WITH FUNCTIONING EYES.

Look, I know that the Breitbart empire isn't exactly what we* think of as a credible news source ("we" here being "people with more sense than a sack of doorknobs"). But those imbecilic fabulists are good at setting narratives. Thursday night, AP reported that "Fifteen military groups are opposing a federal lawsuit in Ohio brought by President Barack Obama’s campaign because they say it could threaten voter protections afforded to service members, such as the extended time they have to cast a ballot."

The fact that this accusation isn't true doesn't matter: this lie will travel around the world, to Bagram, Ramstein, Yongsan, Camp Lejeune, Fort Benning, Miramar, and every post in between.

We need to start by setting the record straight, and the fact is that the core right of American citizens--the right to vote and have that vote counted--is being attacked by Ohio Republicans, and President Obama is trying to defend that right from those who'd take it away. Anyone saying otherwise is lying to our troops, and exploiting them to baselessly smear the President.

I don't know about you, but that pisses me off.

So if you catch someone making these claims in the next few days, send them to the actual lawsuit (which even for non-lawyers is very clear and easy to understand), or point them to this diary. But don't let this lie stand, because when you have a President with a record this strong on veterans' issues, the only way the GOP can compete is to make these lies stick.