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Republicans complain that Democrats are playing the race card in the fierce battle over new restrictive voting laws approved by some states. Now Democrats are accusing the GOP of falsely playing the military card in regard to the laws.

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and a handful of congressional Republicans are claiming that President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign is trying to damp down the vote of military service members and their families in Ohio.

The Obama campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Ohio Democratic Party filed a lawsuit last month against Ohio’s attorney general over changes in the state’s early voting rules.

The cutoff for in-person early voting for most Ohio voters is the Friday before Election Day under laws passed by the state legislature and signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich. But under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voter Act, military personnel can cast ballots in-person up until the day before Election Day, which is on a Tuesday.

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Obama and the Democrats are suing to allow all voters in the Buckeye State to cast in-person ballots during those three days before the election. Even though the lawsuit seeks to extend the early voting period to all, Romney and other Republican lawmakers are portraying it as an effort to target military voters.

“In their lawsuit, the Obama campaign and the (Democratic National Committee) argue it is ‘arbitrary’ and unconstitutional to provide three extra days of early, in-person voting to military and their families,” Romney campaign general counsel Katie Biber wrote Sunday. “We disagree with the basic premise that it is ‘arbitrary’ and unconstitutional to give three extra days of in-person voting to military voters and their families, and believe it is a dangerous and offensive argument for President Obama and the DNC to make.”

“It is despicable for the Obama campaign to challenge Ohio’s lawful decision,” Biber added.

David Axelrod, the Obama campaign’s senior advisor, accused the Romney camp and others of deliberately distorting the intent of lawsuit.

“What that lawsuit calls for is not to deprive the military of the right to vote on the final weekend of the campaign,” Axelrod said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday.” “Of course they (military members) should have that right. What that suit is about is whether the rest of Ohio should have the same right.”

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article courtesy of BlackAmericaWeb.com

Discussion: Ohio Voting Law Fight Heats Up  was originally published on praisecleveland.com