Ohio’s elections chief is violating the state constitution by requiring county election boards to follow a federal court decree instead of state law when it comes to counting provisional ballots, GOP lawmakers alleged in a lawsuit Monday. A 2006 state law laid out the requirements for when such ballots are counted. . . in 2010 then-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, entered into a federal consent decree that was more lenient when it comes to provisional ballots. Current Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, has issued orders to county election boards telling them to follow the consent decree when dealing with provisional ballots. Monday’s lawsuit, brought by Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus and No. 2 House Republican Lou Blessing, says such action is unconstitutional. Full story here.