A Walk-Back on Walk-Back on Military Voting?

Following up on this post, see the Obama campaign statement appended as an update to this BuzzFeed story:

UPDATE: Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, sent BuzzFeed the following statement:

“It is not correct that the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party have shifted the position taken in the case brought in Ohio to protect early voting for the vast majority of the state’s voters over the last three days before the general election.

We fully support accommodations for the military, such as the Uniformed Overseas and Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act that President Obama signed into law. We also believe it is arbitrary for the state to open the polls for the weekend and Monday before the general election but to turn away most Ohio citizens who seek to cast their vote during this period. We support the right of the military and overseas voters to vote then, and we support the right of all other Ohio voters to take advantage of this same opportunity. In short, everyone should have equal opportunity to come in on election day – or during the days leading up to it at open polling locations – and cast a vote.

It is important to note that Ohio voters have successfully qualified a referendum on the ballot to stop the legislature from enacting a series of limitations on voting, including early voting for all citizens during the last three days before the general election. After the referendum was approved for the November ballot, the state’s legislative leadership claimed it would repeal this early voting restriction. But the General Assembly then proceeded to re-enact it – in direct disregard of the will of the voters.

As the case before the court makes entirely clear, this case is aimed at arbitrary exclusion. It is about restoring rights, not taking them away.”

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