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2018 was a big election year in Ohio. Republicans held onto all five statewide executive offices including governor and super majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate. But there were a few bright spots for Democrats, among them the reelection of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and the election of two Democrats to the Ohio Supreme Court.With election 2018 over, the focus now shifts to governing. Stay connected with the latest on politics, policies and people making the decisions at all levels affecting your lives.

U.S. Supreme Court Turns Down Ohio Democrats Appeal, Says Ohio Law Already Forbids Harassing Voters

photo of the U.S. Supreme Court
WIKIMEDIA

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get involved in a case involving planned activities by the Trump campaign at polling places in Ohio tomorrow. 

The Ohio Democratic Party had appealed a Sunday ruling reversing a restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Jim Gwin in Cleveland Friday.  Gwin had ruled in favor of Democrats, who said voters need to be protected from intimidation by Trump supporters outside polling places.

Thehe Trump campaign got that order overturned by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on First Amendment grounds.

Democrats tried to go to the high court to reinstate Gwin's ruling. The one-page order from the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t note who voted down the request other than Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the Court’s more liberal members. She wrote that she voted against hearing the case, noting that Ohio already has laws forbidding  voter harassment and intimidation.

It’s unusual for the Supreme Court to intervene in cases with just hours to go before an election for fear of confusing voters and elections officials.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.