Barack Obama’s presidential campaign last night insisted there’s nothing illegal about its supporters temporarily moving to the battleground state of Ohio and registering to vote there – adding that, in any case, John McCain’s backers do the same thing.
Obama’s Ohio spokesman, Isaac Baker, said McCain’s campaign director and communications director in the Buckeye State – as well as a numbers of other Republican staffers – filled out Ohio registration forms, even though even though they had no intention of becoming permanent residents.
Baker spoke in response to The Post’s report that Democrats connected to a Manhattan-based political-action committee were being eyed by a local prosecutor for possible fraud for temporarily moving to Ohio and registering to vote.
“Like many young people early in their careers, campaign staffers – both Republicans and Democrats – may move from state to state over time, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to vote,” said Baker. He argued that neither Obama’s staff nor McCain’s workers had broken Ohio law by registering there.
But the state’s law allows people who plan to live in Ohio permanently to register to vote no sooner than 30 days after moving there. Temporary residents aren’t supposed to register, even if they live there for more than 30 days.
Palestra.net, a student journalist-run affiliate of Fox News, which is owned by The Post’s parent firm, News Corp., found that Obama campaign worker Jacob Smith, a Florida native, moved in with a host family in Howard, Ohio, on Sept. 28 or Sept. 29 – and registered and voted on Oct. 1.
Baker said he wouldn’t comment on individual cases. McCain’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment. But Don Schutte, Smith’s host, said he was “kind of dismayed” after learning his guest had registered as a resident of his home.