The campaign of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona is suing to allow poll watchers to be present in Ohio as registration and early voting in the state gets under way.

The campaign wants “to make sure that every vote that’s cast is counted fairly,” McCain campaign political director Mike DuHaime said. DuHaime, who spoke during a conference call with reporters, said he wants to avoid “fraudulent votes,” expressing concern about the voter registration tactics of the liberal-leaning group ACORN and other efforts by McCain opponents to get voters to the polls.

Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said he had filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse a ruling by the Ohio secretary of state that the McCain camp says bars poll watchers. He said he expects a ruling soon, possibly as early as Monday. There was no immediate response from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois or the office of the Ohio secretary of state.