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A federal judge agreed with advocates for the homeless and the Ohio Democratic Party that state laws requiring forms on absentee and provisional ballots be filled out without error created technical barriers that were unconstitutional.

(Kathryn Kroll, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal judge on Tuesday threw out provisions in Ohio's law that had voided absentee and provisional ballots for technical flaws made by otherwise qualified voters.

In a lawsuit filed by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless and the Ohio Democratic Party, U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley ruled that the laws violated provisions of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that require citizens receive equal protection under the law.

Marbley also ruled that the state's attempt to shorten a period from 10 to 7 days during which voters could fix those technical flaws was also unconstitutional, as was a provision that forbid poll workers from helping to fill out the ballot forms unless the voter declared he or she was either illiterate or disabled.

You can read the judge's ruling below. Mobile users click here.

The Ohio Democratic Party cheered the decision.

"This trial showed quite clearly that every lawfully cast vote was not being counted here in Ohio," Democratic Party chair David Pepper said in a statement. "Many lawfully registered Ohioans have had their votes cast aside because of new and unnecessary requirements that were shown to be discriminatory."

Subodh Chandra, the plaintiffs' attorney, criticized Republicans for tinkering with voting laws.

"Because of the court's decision, thousands of Ohioans will now have their legitimate votes in this fall's presidential election counted--no thanks to (Secretary of State Jon) Husted and his fellow Republicans' scheming," Chandra said. "In reflexively defending such schemes, Husted has caused taxpayers to pay out millions of dollars in attorneys' fees."

Husted said the state will appeal.

Here's what you need to know:

The complaint

The coalitions for the homeless and the Democratic Party challenged technical requirements for Ohio absentee and provisional ballots, arguing that the rules had been applied differently from county to county. Husted, the state's chief elections officer, was the defendant.

The requirements were included in two bills approved by Republicans in the General Assembly in 2014 and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich.

Bill one:

Bill two: Requires elections boards to reject absentee and provisional ballots for errors made on identification statements.

The impact

Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the new laws created burdens that had caused ballots from homeless, black and Latino voters to be disqualified more than others.

The requirements of the new ballot forms essentially created a literacy test prohibited by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 because voters must read, write and understand voting forms without making a single error or omission, they argued.

They argued that Republican lawmakers intended to affect poor and minority voters because they tend to vote Democratic.

The state argued that the new laws do not burden Ohioans' voting rights and that acceptance rates for both provisional ballots and absentee ballots increased after the laws took effect.

Testimony and evidence

Documents filed with the court in February showed that nearly 12 percent of absentee and provisional ballots rejected by Ohio elections boards in 2014 and 2015 general elections were bounced for technical issues.

Plaintiffs identified more than 4,100 ballots they said were disqualified for technical errors. Data collected by the plaintiffs showed that the rate of disqualification varied widely from county to county. In the 10 largest counties, that rate was as low as 1 percent and as high as 24.8 percent.

Officials from county elections boards around the state testified that some votes that were rejected were likely legitimate and blamed instructions provided by the state to carry out the laws, while in other cases some absentee ballots were counted, despite not meeting the letter of the law.

Old case

The coalitions' complaints were tacked on to a 2006 lawsuit challenging voter identification and provisional ballot counting under then-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican.

Some aspects of the case were addressed over time.

Marbley, for example, previously ruled Ohio officials must count provisional ballots for voters without identification other than a Social Security number.

But the case continued on, later addressing a 2012 directive by Husted directing election workers to reject provisional ballots from voters who incorrectly completed the portion of the ballot asking for identification.

What happens now

Marbley's ruling Tuesday enjoins the state from enforcing technical requirements the General Assembly created (and the governor signed) in the Ohio Revised Code for filling out the forms on absentee and provisional ballots.

He also restored the three days legislators chopped off the cure period for faulty ballots and blocked the portion of the law that forbids poll workers from providing assistance with the ballot forms.

The ruling is at the federal district court level. In a statement, Husted said the state would appeal.

"Despite Ohio's democratically-elected legislature having created a clear set of rules by passing these laws in 2014, an unelected judge has once again intervened and upset the balance of our election that makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Ohio," Husted said.

"Judge Marbley's ruling disregards the powers given to the other two branches of government and I will appeal this latest attempt at judicial activism."