United States Sixth Circuit

The Ohio Secretary of State's motion to stay or vacate a temporary restraining order (TRO) and associated orders restraining enforcement of certain absentee voter identification provisions under Ohio law is granted and the TRO vacated in part where the district court abused its discretion by granting the TRO as: 1) plaintiffs' likelihood of success on the merits was not strong; 2) the balance of harms significantly favored granting a stay of the TRO, except for a requirement that the Boards of Elections preserve all absentee ballots in their present form; and 3) the public interest weighed in favor of granting a stay. Also, a motion to dismiss by plaintiffs-organizations is denied, and the court finds that the state was entitled to intervention of right under F.R.C.P. 24(a).

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/01/2006
• Published 11/01/2006

Judges

• Before GIBBONS and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges;  TARNOW, District Judge.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• H. Ritchey Hollenbaugh, Carlile, Patchen & Murphy, Columbus, OH, Caroline Gentry, Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, Dayton, OH, Subodh Chandra, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiffs-Appellees., Richard N. Coglianese, Ohio Attorney General's Office, Constitutional Offices Section, Columbus, OH, for Defendant-Appellant.