Court to rule Thursday in BOE firings

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - 2 NEWS has learned that Judge Walter Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is "working on" the case of Lieberman et al v. Husted and expects to file a decision Thursday.  The case stems from the firings of Dennis Lieberman and Thomas Ritchie, Sr.

The two democrats who served on the Montgomery County Board of Elections for a combined 27 years were fired in August after they refused to take back their vote in favor of early in-person voting the three days prior to Election Day, November 6.  Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, saw them as defying his directive about early voting and said he had no other choice but to remove them from their positions.

Lieberman and Ritchie filed a lawsuit against Husted claiming they should get their jobs back.  They had their day in court  September 21.  Montgomery County democrats selected former Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin and local attorney, John Doll to replace them on the board of elections.

Due to separate court action Ohio counties will now be keeping early voting hours the three days prior to Election Day.

Judge Rice was nominated to the court by President Jimmy Carter.