Husted sued by terminated elections officials

Tom Ritchie, Sr., center, and Dennis Lieberman, right, attend a rally last month for early voting.

The pair of Democrats fired last month from the Montgomery County Board of Elections for defying an early-voting directive has sued Secretary of State Jon Husted in federal court, arguing they were unjustly terminated.

Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie Sr. had more than 27 years experience on the elections board when Husted fired them for voting to permit weekend hours for early in-person voting. Husted had issued a directive to all 88 counties limiting early voting to weekdays.

Husted fired them after a hearing officer recommended the action, concluding that the directive was clear and had to be followed.

“We believe (Secretary) Husted was wrong when he unjustly fired us,” Lieberman said. “He violated our free speech and the free speech of other county elections board members. (Secretary) Husted fired us and then dared other election board members to try and stand up for the voters in their community.”

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