Anyone else get the feeling that Mr. McAuliffe has toked on a few fat ones??? I'm not talking drugs. Well, eventually I'm sure he started sucking on the crack pipe,....but. LMAO!!!
Wow!!! I'm talking to myself now???? KILLER!!!
There were two things going on. First, Ken Blackwell, the Secretary of State, wussed out, and said that there could be only one challenger per polling place. Jim Petro, the AG, disagreed, and effectively filed suit compelling Blackwell to execute his authority (that's what a writ of mandamus does) to authorize one challenger per precinct.
BUT, that only addressed the correct interpretation of state law. The Federal judges had issued orders saying no challengers at all. The thing is that even if the federal judges eventually were overturned by the 6th Circuit (which is what happened tonight), all that would have done was lifted the two federal orders. But Blackwell's order still would have stood absent this Order by the Ohio Supreme Court.
The Ohio Supreme Court case said that challengers must be permitted under state law, and that the SOS had to instruct boards of election to that effect.
The 6th Circuit said that the Ohio law did not violate federal law.
Hope that helps. So, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered Blackwell to permit challenges, but expressly stated that its order only interpreted state law. In effect, the Court was acknowledging that the federal court still had authority to determine whether challengers would be permitted under federal law.