From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Two federal judges today banned thousands of challengers who had been recruited to monitor voters in Ohio polling places, saying poll workers — not outsiders — should determine voter eligibility.

Three local Republicans backed by the state party quickly appealed to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the first ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott found the portion of Ohio law that allows challengers to be placed in polling places to be unconstitutional. Having challengers inexperienced in questioning voters would impede the election and potentially disenfranchise some voters, Dlott said in her ruling, issued at 1:24 a.m.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by long-time Cincinnati civil rights activists Donald and Marian Spencer, who argued that the GOP’s plan to deploy challengers in mostly in African-American precincts was an attempt to intimidate and frustrate black voters.

Republicans argued that the challengers would have been there to prevent voter fraud. Republicans, in their appeal, said there was no evidence of racial hostility or discrimination. They want Judge Dlott’s order blocked.

. . . .

Just after Dlott’s ruling, U.S. District Judge John Adams made a similar ruling in Akron, barring challengers from polling places.

Like Dlott, Adams said that the precinct judges that are normally on duty at polling places are the ones to determine if voters are eligible.

“In light of these extraordinary circumstances, and the contentious nature of the imminent election, the court can not and must not turn a blind eye to the substantial likelihood that significant harm will result not only to voters, but also to the voting process itself, if appointed challengers are permitted at the polls,” Adams wrote.

Read the rest here. You can access a .pdf version of Judge Dlott’s order here.