► U.S. Judge Dan Polster of Cleveland, OH; one of the Good Guys

The State of Ohio provided Dan A. Polster with a law license in 1976 after he graduated from Harvard University School of Law.

In one matter, Judge Polster was assigned to a case wherein Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (Republican) issued an order limiting voter drop boxes to one per county, which was an obvious attempt by the GOP to make it more difficult for voters in large urban areas like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo drop off their mail in votes.

In early October 2020, Judge Polster issued an order voiding LaRose’s limiting order and did so by issuing an order that expanded drop boxes, which made the following findings.

• “The Secretary of State had not presented any legitimate reason to prohibit a county board of elections from utilizing off-site drop boxes and/or off-site delivery of ballots to staff.”
• “No evidence was introduced at the hearing to support the conclusory reference to fraud in the Secretary’s brief.”
• “The problem with this rationale [voter fraud] is that all counties are not equal in population or in geographic size.”
• “Giving all voters an equal opportunity would require multiple drop boxes in heavily populated counties to account for their population.”

After suffering a humiliating loss, LaRose had the chutzpah to ask Judge Polster to hold off on the implementation of his order while it was appealed, a request that the judge responded to as follows.

• “[W]e are in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century coupled with reasonable concern over the ability of the U.S. Postal Service to handle what will undoubtedly be the largest number of absentee voters in Ohio’s history.”
• “It is time for this litigation to end.”

County populations in Ohio that would be provided one (1) drop box via LaRose’s asinine argument are:

• Franklin County Columbus: 1,339,490 = 60.6% Clinton
• Cuyahoga County (Cleveland):1,234,830 = 65.8% Clinton
• Noble County (Caldwell): 14,240 = 75.6% Trump
• Harrison County (Cadiz): 15,102 = 72.2% Trump

In addition to Noble and Harrison Counties with populations under 35,000 that voted overwhelmingly for Trump are the following counties.

• Gallia County: 29,651 = 76% Trump
• Hardin County 31,628 = 71.15 Trump
• Jackson County 32,382 = 72.6% Trump
• Meigs County: 23,156 = 73.0% Trump
• Monroe County: 13,470 = 71.5% Trump
• Morgan County: 14,460 = 68.6% Trump
• Paulding Count: 18,604 = 71.9% Trump
• Putnam County 33,632 = 80% Trump
• Vinton County: 13,215 = 70.4% Trump
• Wyandot (Sycamore) 21,677 = 70.7% Trump

Now, it should be obvious to anyone with an I.Q. in the lower 90s or triple digits that LaRose and his GOP counterparts are only interested in voter suppression.

And lastly, LaRose’s one drop box per county despite huge population disparities would be analogous to an order from the Ohio Department of Education mandating that only one (1) bathroom will be provide for every elementary school in the state.

Congrats to Judge Dan Polster for exhibiting the fortitude and courage to call a spade a spade when it comes to obvious voter suppression.

As we speak (ca. October 2020), Judge Polster continues to sit as a District Court Judge for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland, Ohio.