Federal courts in Ohio took the rare action of issuing orders on a weekend, October 28-29. As reported earlier, a U.S. District Court had blocked Ohio’s law on ID for absentee voters. One reason for this is that Ohio drivers licenses have two distinct numbers on them, one in large print and one in small print. Ohio requires absentee voters (voting by mail) to include the smaller-print drivers license number (not all counties have been enforcing this law). Many absentee ballots were being rejected because they were accompanied by the larger-print number on the drivers license instead of the smaller-print number.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell decided not to fight the stay. However, Ohio’s Attorney General then filed an appeal of the stay anyway, saying he was representing the legislature, not the Secretary of State. The Attorney General’s appeal to the 6th circuit was filed after hours on Friday evening, and it was accepted by the 6th circuit on Sunday, October 29. The 6th circuit said it would explain its action later.