ProgressOhio

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court ruled today that about 1,000 Franklin County ballots will be thrown out, potentially impacting a local Ohio House race as well as the last unresolved 2008 congressional race in the country.

In the 15th District, Republican Steve Stivers holds a 594 vote lead over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy. In the 19th Ohio House District, Democrat Marian Harris leads Republican Brad Lewis by 40 votes.

At issue were 1,000 ballots that contained technical flaws, such as a lack of a signature on the outside of the ballot envelope and other information. This held up the counting of 37,298 Franklin County provisional, late absentee, military, and overseas ballots, which could not be counted until the dispute over the 1,000 was resolved. The vote count is complete in Madison and Union Counties, which are part of the 15th District.

From the Dispatch:

The case was brought by two Stivers supporters who voted Nov. 4. They argued that the flawed ballots should be thrown out because of the lack of signatures and other identifying information makes them vulnerable to fraud and runs afoul of state law.
Kilroy and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, also a Democrat, urged the Franklin County Board of Elections to count the disputed ballots rather than dismiss them on "hypertechnical" grounds.
The Franklin County Board of Elections expects to be able to count the provisional ballots in two to three days, then set a meeting of the board to certify the results.
If neither candidate is ahead by more than 0.5 percent -- roughly 1,600 votes -- there would be a mandatory recount of ballots.

UPDATE: Statement from Jennifer Brunner on Ohio Supreme Court Decision