COLUMBUS, Ohio -- By 1 p.m. on a Tuesday, the Seneca County Board of Elections meeting room was already over capacity.

About 40 chairs lined the cramped space, every one taken. People stood along the walls, spilled into the lobby, even sat cross-legged on the floor.

They’d come for a decision on whether people who don’t trust voting machines should serve as election workers. A question that drew an unusually high-profile crowd, including GOP candidates for governor and secretary of state.

On paper, the dispute was about the First Amendment: Can you bar someone from serving as a polling location manager because of their beliefs?

But for the Republican hopefuls in the room, the real challenge was political — how to signal openness to voters who distrust machines without fully embracing a

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