Military voting controversy - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

It's your vote…but Democrats and Republicans are arguing over when you can cast your ballot.

Washington bureau chief Jacqueline Policastro explains the divide over Ohio's early voting law.

The stakes are high in Ohio. The outcome could be decided by a few thousand votes.
President Obama and Mitt Romney are making it clear that your vote is worth fighting for.

Tom Perriell from the Center for American Progress says, "Republicans are determined to make it harder for working and middle class Americans to vote."

However, Hans Von Spakovsky from the Heritage Foundations says, "Early voting is a privilege, it's not a right. "

Let's break down the battle:
Ohio's early voting law -pushed through by Republicans in Columbus last year- cuts off early voting three days before election day but allows military residents and their families to vote right up until the election.

The Obama campaign is suing - arguing that extra three-day voting period should be extended to all Ohio residents, not just those in the military.

And the Romney camp is accusing Obama of trying to limit voting rights for members of the military - calling the lawsuit despicable.

Tom Perriello, president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund told me he thinks republicans are trying to keep voters from getting to the polls.

"I think American families are starting to ask the question, why are they so scared of me voting? why are Republicans so scared of people like me being able to cast a vote at the ballot box?"

The Republican National Committee refused several requests for an interview about the lawsuit.  But more than a dozen veterans groups are backing Romney's response.

And one former federal election commissioner says the voting law wasn't designed to help republicans.

"Why do you think republicans changed this law? it is very difficult from an administrative, election standpoint to run early voting all the way up to the day before the election."

von Spakovsky points out,  "Middle class voters are just as split as many other classes of voters are, so the idea that this is somehow going to help Republicans and hurt Democrats. I don't think anybody has really made the case for that."

Democrats disagree and claim more than 90 thousand voters cast ballots during the last three days of early voting in 2008.

Perriello says, "This has been a response not to voter fraud, but to voter success. The reality is 20 years of efforts to make it easier for working families to get out and vote have worked. And more people are voting and that should be a good thing for our democracy."

The next hearing on the lawsuit is set for August 15th.