An obscure Ohio voting law is suddenly at the center of a nasty dispute between the Obama and Romney campaigns -- months before Election Day in a case that underscores how the campaigns are poised to fight for every last vote.
The Obama campaign says its court challenge to Ohios policy is about basic fairness. The campaign objects to the states two-tiered system allowing members of the military to participate in early voting until the Monday before Election Day while everybody else faces a Friday deadline.
But theres no denying the dispute is rich with political implications. In a close race the campaigns are preemptively fighting over a contest that could hold electoral sway akin to Floridas in 2000.
I think that everything thats been done everything thats been said is political on both sides said John Goheen spokesman with the National Guard Association of the United States which along with more than a dozen other military groups filed a motion opposing the Obama campaigns suit.
Here are a few relevant facts:
- Polling consistently shows military members less keen on President Obama than non-military. Gallup polling in May gave Mitt Romney a 58-34 advantage over Obama among veterans.
- Ohio has 18 electoral votes. Obama narrowly won the state in 2008. No Republican has won the presidency without winning Ohio.
- Ohios two-tiered system is unusual. However Ohio is hardly alone among early voting states in making Friday the cutoff for most voters. Of the 32 states that allow early voting most of them end that voting by the Friday before the election. Only 11 states allow early voting until Monday.
So why then the sudden attention on Ohios voting law?
Because its Ohio said Steffen Schmidt a political science professor at Iowa State University.
This is one of the states where you cant not punch back Schmidt told FoxNews.com.
Schmidt said he doubts this dispute -- over military members getting three extra days to vote -- will amount to an election-deciding moment.
But he said it shows how hyper-focused both campaigns are on just a handful of battleground states from the ads in those states to the court challenges over voter laws.
Schmidt suggested this could be risky business for the Obama campaign since you dont ever want to really take on the military or at least create that impression. But he said that if the Obama campaign can put out the message that other voters arent getting a fair shake it could end up energizing non-military Obama supporters in the state.
Meanwhile the lawsuit -- and subsequent challenge from military groups -- has turned into somewhat of a political Rorschach test.
Romneys campaign effectively accused Obama of objecting to military early-voting privileges. Obamas campaign countered that to the contrary it merely wanted to extend that lengthy period for everybody.
The way Gov. Romney stated the situation is completely false Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said on Fox News Sunday. Its shameful that Gov. Romney would hide behind our service men and women.
Romneys campaign countered again with counsel Katie Biber releasing a memo Sunday defending the state of Ohio.
It is not only constitutional but commendable that the Ohio Legislature granted military voters and their families this accommodation. It is despicable for the Obama campaign to challenge Ohios lawful decision she wrote.
Goheen told FoxNews.com that while military groups filed the motion in opposition to the Obama campaigns suit his association actually has no objection to making Monday the cutoff for everybody.
He said the association got involved mainly to make sure our members in Ohio had a voice and is staying out of the politics of the dispute.
What we dont want to see happen is a pullback of military voting rights to that Friday he said.
Ohio used to allow everybody to vote until Monday but Ohios GOP-controlled government changed the law and created the two-tiered system.
