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Rachel Maddow provides the back story in the above video. The other shoe is dropping, as expected, and the Ohio (Republican) secretary of state Jon Husted has now said he will appeal a ruling by a federal court that overturned previous restrictions on early voting.

And he took his sweet time, which of course makes it much more difficult and confusing to Ohio voters.

Per the ruling, Ohioans are able cast ballots in the three days before election day, but Husted kept everyone waiting and wondering whether or not he would appeal that decision. He was in no rush.

Husted once said this:

“The later you make a decision, the more likely it is to cause a problem … Time is of the essence and confusion is dangerous.”

The pressure is now on, and Husted knows it. He’s making sure any final decisions will come in as late in the game as possible, causing further chaos resulting in fewer Democratic-leaning (black) Ohio residents having access to early voting.

After all, longer lines that deter people who are unable to spend endless hours waiting to vote benefit him and his GOP buddies.

(CNN) – Jon Husted said he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. On Friday, a federal appeals court sided with the Obama campaign in its protest against a ban on voting in the final weekend–Saturday, Sunday, and Monday–before Election Day.

In a statement Tuesday, Husted called Friday’s ruling an “unprecedented intrusion by the federal courts into how states run elections.”

“Because of its impact on all 50 states as to who and how elections will be run in America we are asking the Supreme Court to step in and allow Ohioans to run Ohio elections,” the statement read. [...]

The circuit court said the injunction does not, however, require local election offices to be open for early voting during the weekend before the election, but said the injunction “return[s] discretion to local boards of elections to allow all Ohio voters to vote” that Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Of course, that decision still leaves it up to boards that could very well decide against early voting. And now our lovely SCOTUS is being asked to make a final decision.

No rush, of course. Take your time.

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