The case, filed in the Ohio Supreme Court, could affect who wins the 15th Congressional District race and Ohio House contests in the 19th and 20th districts, where uncounted provisional ballots probably will be decisive.

The lawsuit was filed by two Franklin County voters on behalf of the campaign of Republican Steve Stivers, who leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th District race by fewer than 400 votes with thousands of provisional ballots outstanding.

Provisional ballots are cast primarily by voters who moved but didn't update the address on their registration, whose names didn't appear in the poll book, or who lacked proper identification at the polls.

The ballots are held for 10 days while elections workers verify the voter's eligibility.

The dispute involves what should be done with provisional ballots when voters fail to both print and sign their names on the ballot envelopes.

According to the lawsuit, Brunner's office told the board to count provisional ballots as long as voters can be confirmed to be eligible, even if they did not print their names on the envelopes.

The lawsuit said that advice contradicted earlier guidance and came after a lawyer for Kilroy's committee questioned the rules for counting provisional ballots.

But Brunner's office said that her guidance from before the election hasn't changed, and that state law supports her position.

"It is unfortunate that our clear pre-election directives have been mischaracterized," the office said in a statement.

The suit seeks a court order that any provisional envelope must contain both the name and signature of the voter, and separately that a voter must have completed the identification section on the envelope.

At issue, in part, is what constitutes poll-worker error, which should not cause ballots to be disqualified.

Before the election, Brunner issued a 10-page directive spelling out how provisional ballots were to be handled as part of an order signed by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in a separate case.

The judge's order said that "no provisional ballot cast by an eligible elector should be rejected because of a poll worker's failure to comply with duties mandated" by state law, such as a poll worker's failure to sign the envelope as required.

Brunner's directive says the ballots "may not be rejected for reasons that are attributable to poll-worker error."

In a Wednesday e-mail to county officials, Brian Shinn, a Brunner aide, said Sargus' order and the directive "should be read liberally and in favor of counting provisional ballots rather than rejecting them solely based upon technicalities."

Attorney John W. Zeiger, representing the two voters who are suing, argued that the statute regarding provisional ballots can't be ignored.

"It appears to us that the secretary of state is attempting to eviscerate Ohio election protections on the basis that anything that could have been corrected by a poll worker constitutes poll-worker error, even though it is the obligation of the voter to comply with the statute," Zeiger said.

mniquette@dispatch.com