From The Plain Dealer:

The closer Ohio comes to the most contentious election in its history, the more confusion reigns about what will happen Tuesday in the state’s polling places.

First, state Republicans appealed a federal judge’s ruling barring six county election boards, including Cuyahoga’s, from conducting hearings to review the legitimacy of thousands of new voter registrations. But if the judge’s ruling is overturned, it’s not clear whether enough time remains to hold the hearings before Election Day.

Meanwhile, several counties unaffected by the judge’s ruling moved ahead with review hearings. Dozens of angry voters showed up to defend their registrations in Summit County, and the board eventually dismissed nearly 1,000 objections filed by local Republicans. And in Lake County, all but a handful of nearly 100 objections were dismissed.

Also, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has issued an order governing the presence of “challengers” inside Ohio polling places.

State law allows political parties to place representatives inside the polls to challenge the legitimacy of voters’ registrations before they are issued ballots. Although the law says each group can have one challenger per polling place, Blackwell said each group can have one challenger per precinct - meaning some voters could see a crowd at the many polling places serving more than one precinct.

The dirty tricks campaign continues. The Lake County sheriff fielded complaints about a flier purportedly issued by the county election board. The flier, which is bogus, tells those registered to vote by the NAACP, by Democratic campaigns or certain progressive groups that their registrations are invalid.

Another flier, distributed to 30,000 public housing residents in Cleveland, urges them to vote for a proposed school tax because it won’t cost them anything - angering many who would see their property taxes rise if the levy passes.