Federal court: Ohio must check voter registrations

A federal appeals court has ordered Ohio’s top elections official to set up a system by Friday to verify the eligibility of new voters.
   
The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must use other government records to check thousands of new voters for registration fraud.
   
A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit had disagreed last week, but the full court’s ruling overturns that decision.
   
Ohio Republicans has sued Brunner, a Democrat.
   
Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett called the ruling a victory for the integrity of the electoral process.
   
Brunner previously had said there was no way to implement the system with such speed.