This out from the Associated Press:

A federal judge issued an order early Monday barring political party challengers from polling places throughout Ohio during Tuesday’s election.

U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott found that the application of Ohio’s statute allowing challengers at polling places is unconstitutional.

She said the presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process questioning voters about their eligibility would impede voting.

Dlott ruled on a lawsuit by a black Cincinnati couple who said Republican plans to deploy challengers to largely black precincts in Hamilton County was meant to intimidate and block black voters.

Republicans said they wanted to prevent voter fraud.

Dlott said in her preliminary injunction order that the evidence “does not indicate that the presence of additional challengers would serve Ohio’s interest in preventing voter fraud better than would the system of election judges …”

Just yesterday I posted on my greatest worry–that Republicans would abuse the “observer” loophole to the effect of jamming polling places–and wondered aloud as to who could stop them from doing it. Well, in Ohio at least, we now know. That state will be safe from the GOP’s biggest dirty trick. Florida and Wisconsin are still facing the GOP’s front-line election-stopping troops, but maybe courts in those states will follow suit. If they do, they’d better hurry…