Special Operations Speaks, a new right-wing political action committee comprised of three former special operations officers, is doubling down on the Romney campaign’s latest false claim that President Obama is suing to prevent members of the military from voting early in Ohio.
Here is an excerpt from an email the group sent to its listserv early this morning:
If you haven’t already heard, Obama’s campaign has just filed a lawsuit in Ohio to restrict military voting. In Ohio, there is a law that allows the public to vote early in-person up until the Friday before the election. Members of the military are given three extra days to vote early. The Obama campaign is suing to strike down this part of the law, claiming that there is “no discernible rational basis” for why military members are allowed extra time to vote.
The facts are apparently of little concern to Special Operations Speaks. As ThinkProgress has documented, the allegation is a flat-out lie. A 2005 Ohio law introduced in-person early voting for all Ohio residents who are legally eligible to vote, allowing them to cast their ballots beginning the Friday prior to election day. Earlier this year, the Republican legislature repealed that law for everyone except active duty military personnel. The Obama administration’s lawsuit isn’t aimed at ending early voting for those military members, but restoring it for everyone else.
In fact, by repealing the 2005 law, Republicans in Ohio succeeded in restricting the voting rights of 900,000 veterans in the state, as well as the elderly and disabled, groups that all benefit from avoiding the long lines of Election Day.
The Romney campaign has sought to deflect criticism of it’s false attacks by pointing to a dozen military and veterans groups that have called for a judge to dismiss the Obama administration’s lawsuit, but if Special Operations Speaks is at all indicative of the premise on which these groups are basing their complaints, it’s unclear how many of these groups know what