Both parties ready for legal fight over Ohio

Provisional ballots are official election documents usually given to voters when they can’t prove their identity or registration on Election Day. The state of Ohio usually uses a lot of these tools: In 2004, more than 150,000 provisional ballots were cast there, and they have a legacy of legal trouble attached to them.

Ian Urbina from the "New York Times" talks to "The Takeaway" about preparations in Ohio heading up to Nov 4 and after.

Urbina says if there is litigation after the election, Ohio is the likely place it will occur: "You need to figure out where is there a state where people are willing to fight; where is there a state where the margin may be close enough so that it’s worth fighting; and where is there a state where there’s stuff to fight over … Ohio comes up positive in all three categories.

"For the last two months the partisan lawyers have been already fighting and litigating, so their players are in place ready to fight … and the stuff that they would fight over are these provisional ballots, which essentially after the election are the only things you can fight over because they are not counted until after Election Day, and in Ohio, unlike most other states, there tends to be a huge number of provisional ballots used."

"The Takeaway" is PRI’s new national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.

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