Ohio ballot counting agreement reached

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Organizations that challenged Ohio's new voter identification law have reached an agreement with state officials on how provisional ballots from last week's election should be counted, the attorney general's office said.

The agreement was reached Tuesday after negotiations between Attorney General Jim Petro, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and groups challenging the law, Petro spokesman Mark Anthony said.

The agreement is the latest round of legal wrangling over the law, which required voters to show photo ID at the polls, and stemmed from Election Day confusion among some poll workers about what was considered proper ID.

Because of the confusion, poll workers did not allow some voters with proper ID to cast regular ballots, instead forcing them to cast provisional ballots, which generally are not counted until a voter's eligibility is verified.

Under the agreement, approved by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley, provisional ballots cast in error will be counted without any additional investigation into their eligibility.

It also allows observers to oversee county elections workers as they review such ballots and determine if they're eligible to be counted.

The observers can challenge any rejections, but the ultimate decision on whether a ballot can be counted still lies with county election boards.

Subodh Chandra, a lawyer for the poverty and labor groups challenging the handling of the provisional ballots, said the agreement gives greater accountability to the process but still doesn't ensure that all legitimate provisional ballots will be counted.

The results of two U.S. House races have been delayed until provisional and absentee ballot counting is complete.