Pictured are Ohio Democratic Party Chairperson Chris Redfern (in green tie), Ohio Governor John Kasich (R-OH) (in red tie), Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) (in white blouse), who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus of Blacks in Congress (CBC), Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D-25 ) (in light blue suit), Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R-OH) (in blue tie), and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary

Rodham Clinton (in Black suit), the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.

COLUMBUS, Ohio-As the election for Ohio governor looms and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton leads in national polls by large margins any prospective Democratic contenders for president in 2016,  Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern announced yesterday that the state Democrat party that he leads has launched an Ohio Voter Defense Fund for monies to sue Republican Gov. John Kasich over expansive voter suppression bills that the governor recently signed into law, two last week, and one on Friday.

Click here to join the fight for voting rights in Ohio.

Democrats say the controversial state laws, all three passed by the Republican controlled Ohio State Legislature,  will limit voting access for Ohioans that need it most.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, condemned all three of the laws as a Republican assault on voting rights abetted by Kasich and geared toward undermining voters and potential voters that are "Black and low-income."  CLICK THIS LINK HERE TO GO TO THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER AT CLEVELAND.COM TO READ THE EDITORIAL

Ohio is a pivotal state with no Republican winning the White House that can be remembered without first winning Ohio and the last Democrat to do so being the late John F. Kennedy in 1960. Though Clinton lost the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 she did win Ohio against Obama, America's first Black president, now serving a second four-year term.

"Gov. John Kasich signed a measure requiring more information on provisional ballots today, a week ago he inked a pair of bills dealing with early and absentee voting, so we're taking him to court," said Redfern of Kasich in a press release on Friday to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper. "We've never lost."

Redfern hopes to raise $5 million in the next week to cover the cost of the lawsuit, one that sets the stage for an expensive legal fight between the Ohio Democratic and Republican parties over voters rights. 

The bill that Kasich signed into law on Friday dubbed Substitute Senate Bill 205 would disqualify voters who incorrectly fill out a provisional ballot information form. A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there are questions about a given voter's eligibility. The law also codifies two court rulings about the so-called 'right church, wrong pew' problem. Also at issue is that some polling places serve two or more precincts. Under the new law, if Ohioans were to vote in the right polling location but get their precinct wrong, their votes would still count. None of their ballots would count if they went to the wrong polling location.

Senate Bill 238, which Kasich signed into law last week,  curtails early voting  hours and eliminates Golden Week, a time when voters can both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot (also known as early voting). Senate Bill 205, also signed into law last week by the governor,  prohibits county boards of elections from providing postage paid ballots to all voters in their jurisdiction.

The three new voter restriction laws are set to take effect before the November general election but after the May Democratic primary for statewide and state legislative races and some judicial races, and races in Cuyahoga County for county executive and some county council. 

Kasich is in a tight race for governor this year and will likely face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald. Recent polls say that women and Blacks will likely make or break the race.

A recent Qunnipiac poll shows a five point gap, with Kasich leading FitzGerald, a Cuyahoga County executive, 43 percent to 38 percent.

Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11), a Warrensville Heights Democrat whose predominantly Black 11th congressional district includes the largely Black cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, and who also chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) of Blacks in Congress, was upset that Kasich last week signed the two voter suppression bills into law. She  released a statement to Cleveland Urban News.Com concerning the two bills that are now state law, both passed previously by the Ohio State Legislature. 

"Jon Husted has placed a roadblock in the path," said Turner, who added that Husted is against programs such as 'Souls to the Polls, an initiative that promotes African American voter turnout.

Turner said that the Republicans are behind the passage of voter suppression laws by state legislatures across the country, including in Ohio, that 

"systematically disenfranchise women and people of color."