ABA Journal: Voting rights for people in jail is becoming another casualty of COVID-19
Mike Brickner, the Ohio state director of All Voting Is Local, an advocacy group run by The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, fears that “we could end up back where we were before 2016, when few to no people in jail had a practical right to vote.”
The Columbus Dispatch: Coronavirus: Ohio voter advocates worry about lines for in-person voting Tuesday
All Voting is Local Ohio state director Mike Brickner blamed a “poorly thought-out and executed plan that did not leave voters or election officials time to do a true vote-by-mail election.” The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition advocated for extending absentee voting into mid-May, and LaRose wanted to conclude the election June 2.
Roll Call: Ballot scramble: Maryland, Ohio test rapid shift to all-mail voting
“It’s been kind of the opposite of smooth,” said Mike Brickner, the Ohio state director of All Voting is Local, an organization aimed at voter access. “I’ve been joking with people that the last month or so has felt like the longest five years of my life.”
The Register Herald: Ballot scramble: Maryland, Ohio test rapid shift to all-mail voting
"It's been kind of the opposite of smooth," said Mike Brickner, the Ohio state director of All Voting is Local, an organization aimed at voter access. "I've been joking with people that the last month or so has felt like the longest five years of my life."
MXO Entertainment: Voting Rights Group Says Ohio’s Election Participation May Be Half Of 2016!
Voting rights group All Voting Is Local says 1.5 million Ohioans have requested absentee ballots so far this year – about half the number who voted in the last presidential primary four years ago. “In 2016, we had a little over 3 million people who voted in the primary election,” says spokesman Mike Brickner. “For the 2020 election thus far, we are looking at about only 1.5 million people who have either cast an early ballot or requested an absentee ballot since we extended the time.
The Marshall Project: The 470,000 Potential Voters Most Likely To Be Disenfranchised Next Election
Mike Brickner, the Ohio state director of All Voting Is Local, an advocacy group run by The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, fears that “we could end up back where we were before 2016, when few to no people in jail had a practical right to vote.” Before the pandemic, he said, the administrators of the Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland had been very open to expanding ballot access to people behind bars there, seeing it as a way to remind them that they are still part of the social contract even while awaiting trial.