Supporters watch as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Vice President nominee Paul Ryan attend a town square campaign rally in Lancaster, Ohio on Oct. 12, 2012.
In July, the Obama campaign and Ohio Democrats filed a court challenge to a 2011 Buckeye State law, passed by Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature, that eliminated three days of early voting — which has historically boosted Democrats, and did again this year — for all residents except military families and civilians living overseas. Romney’s campaign described this as a “despicable” attempt to limit voting opportunities for military families. But the lawsuit did not attempt to restrict the voting rights of anyone. It sought to extend a privilege afforded to one group of voters to all Ohioans. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s appeal of a lower court decision overturning the law, effectively preserving early-voting rights for all Buckeyes.