Secretary of State Jon Husted is appealing the decision by a federal judge that would force him to allow early voting the three days before the election – days that have been shown to be preferred by Democratic, and especially African American voters. While awaiting the appeal, Husted has asked the judge to stay his decision. And who has Mr. Husted chosen to represent him for this task? An out-of-state lawyer with experience in restricting voter access.

Husted’s latest legal response was submitted by William S. Consovoy from the firm Wiley Rein LLP, who is acting as Special Counsel for the Ohio Secretary of State.

If you’ve been following recent voting rights cases, the name should sound familiar.

Consovoy is the same attorney defending the State of Florida on its efforts to similarly reduce voting hours preferred by African American voters.

Even more disturbing, Consovoy recently pushed an unsuccessful constitutional challenge in the South against the Voting Rights Act, the landmark legislation which outlawed discriminatory voting practices.

It was bad enough when Doug Preisse, a prominent Ohio Republican, admitted that Republicans “shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”

But now it looks like SOS Husted – the man responsible for providing for free and fair elections in Ohio – is taking every step possible to contort the voting process to EXCLUDE African-American voters – going so far as to hire a lawyer with experience doing exactly that.