The game is up on the falsehoods about the Obama campaign's lawsuit to restore early voting in Ohio, but that hasn't deterred Sean Hannity from lying about it.
On August 6, PolitiFact Ohio gave a rating of “false” to Mitt Romney's statement that the Obama lawsuit is challenging voting privileges for the military. Nevertheless, the same night, Hannity used his Fox News show to pound home the falsehood.
Hannity teased his report by saying that Romney is hitting Obama over a lawsuit to “limit the number of days armed service members can vote” -- a statement that is in no way true.
Ohio changed its early-voting rules after problems there during the 2004 election prevented thousands of people from casting their ballots. The state responded by expanding early voting for the 2008 and 2010 elections.
But last year, the Republican-controlled legislature eliminated in-person voting during the three days before the election for everyone but military families and overseas voters. The Obama campaign lawsuit explicitly states what it is asking for: “Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit to restore in-person early voting for all Ohioans during the three days prior to Election Day.”
During his August 6 segment, Hannity read from the very same statement that PolitiFact rated false:
Hannity again falsely described the lawsuit as “fighting a privilege extended to members of the military that allows them to vote as late as the day before Election Day”:
Similarly, Lou Dobbs hosted top Romney surrogate John Sununu on the August 6 edition of his Fox Business show to spread misinformation about voting in Ohio.
Sununu claimed that the lawsuit seeks to “block the extra days the Ohio legislature gave the military for filing their absentee ballots.” Dobbs nodded along as Sununu made this false claim.