Fight for Our Right: A Victory
Today, outside Secretary of State Jon Husted's office, we protested. We demonstrated that seventeen-year-olds do not live up to their stereotype of being apathetic and uninformed. We demonstrated that the most fundamental right of democracy—the right to vote—could not be denied to us on a technicality. Ohio law is clear: if a person is or will be eighteen years of age on the day of the next general election, then they are entitled to cast a ballot at the primary election, provided they are affiliated with the political party whose primary election they desire to vote in. All citizens must have an equal say in the nomination of candidates just as much as the election of candidates, and the ultimate goal of the presidential primary is to decide the nomination of candidates.
And today, the Court agreed.
At about 4:30 pm on Friday, March 11, 2016, Judge Richard Frye of the Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County, Ohio, made a decision in the case of Rachel Schwerdtfeger, et al. v. Jon Husted. Schwerdtfeger, along with nine other seventeen-year-olds, had filed a lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted regarding his recent decision to block seventeen-year-olds from casting ballots in the upcoming Ohio presidential primary election on the fifteenth.
Judge Frye ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, deciding that Secretary Husted's actions were not in accordance with the law. A few hours later, Secretary Husted indicated that his office did not intend to appeal the decision, thus delivering a sweeping victory to young voters statewide.
And today, the Court agreed.
At about 4:30 pm on Friday, March 11, 2016, Judge Richard Frye of the Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County, Ohio, made a decision in the case of Rachel Schwerdtfeger, et al. v. Jon Husted. Schwerdtfeger, along with nine other seventeen-year-olds, had filed a lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted regarding his recent decision to block seventeen-year-olds from casting ballots in the upcoming Ohio presidential primary election on the fifteenth.
Judge Frye ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, deciding that Secretary Husted's actions were not in accordance with the law. A few hours later, Secretary Husted indicated that his office did not intend to appeal the decision, thus delivering a sweeping victory to young voters statewide.