Early voting hours extended in some counties, but not Cuyahoga County

CLEVELAND - Two dozen of Ohio's 88 counties will have extended early voting hours, but as of now, Cuyahoga County is not among those counties.

That means voters in the 24 counties will be able to vote on weekends or evenings. The rest, won't.

Tom Pergola is a Cuyahoga County voter who also votes early. Pergola said he would like to see the extra hours, allowing him more time to vote.

"I work two jobs, seven days a week," Pergola explained.

In Cuyahoga County, early voting will take place on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. But, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald is fighting to have the hours extended.

Two Democrats on the board voted for the extended hours, while two Republicans voted against it. Because of the deadlock, Secretary of State John Husted broke the tie, siding with his party and voting against the extended hours. 

Now FitzGerald, as well as other lawmakers and members of the faith community, are calling on Husted to reconsider.

"Even Ray Charles can see what's going on here. We have to call it what it is. This is voter suppression," said State Senator Nina Turner. "Those counties that lean red, lean republican have extended voting. Those counties who lean democrat do not have early extended voting."

FitzGerald said if money is the issue, the county is ready to pay up.

"We're not talking about a lot of money here," he explained.

FitzGerald is urging Board of Election members, as well as Husted, to reconsider but said legal action may be needed.