A group of nine teens and a national voting rights organization are suing the state over the17-year-olds' right to vote in Ohio. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against Ohio secretary of state Jon Husted for his decision to reject the teens' right to vote next week for the presidential primary. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has sued Husted on a separate lawsuit.
The teenagers, fighting over the 17-year-olds' right to vote in Ohio had asked the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County for a preliminary ruling before to the presidential primary on March 15, Yahoo reports. As per the lawsuit filed by the teenagers, Husted has wrong interpretation of the state law. The lawsuit alleges that Husted changed the state's election manual in December. Husted reportedly allowed only the17-year-olds to nominate candidates for a general election, but would not be permitted to vote.
"They are not permitted to elect candidates, which is what voters are doing in a primary when they elect delegates to represent them at their political party's national convention," Husted said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Fair Elections Legal Network argued in their lawsuit that Husted broke the election code of the latest Ohio Election Manual by banning the 17-year-olds' right to vote in Ohio, Dispatch. An attorney Rachel Bloomekatz supporting the lawsuit claimed that the Ohio Revised Code permits 17-year-olds to vote in the primary elections given that they will be 18 during the general election. Husted's decision has triggered disapproval after Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent attacked the policy and claimed its "underhanded, backroom attack" on voters' rights.
Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic candidate for President has filed a separate lawsuit against the state to support the 17-year-olds' right to vote in Ohio, according to NY Times. "It is an outrage that the secretary of state in Ohio is going out of his way to keep young people - significantly African-American young people, Latino young people - from participating," Sanders said in a news release.
Sanders' supporters are mostly young voters. The Democratic candidate for President argued that Husted attempted to block the young voters' right which was unconstitutional. He also said that Husted's policy was discriminatory because data revealed that young voters were mostly African-American and Latino.
