Introduced last year, a proposed overhaul to Ohio election law has reappeared with changes that would prevent the Ohio secretary of state and local governments from mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications and eliminate early voting on the Monday before Election Day among other guidelines.
On Nov. 17, an Ohio House Government Oversight Committee approved revisions to House Bill 294.
Known as the Ohio Election Security and Modernization Act, the proposed legislation received strong opposition from Democrats and groups focused on expanding voting access when it was unveiled in 2021.
Democrats were so alarmed by the bill’s language that they hosted a series of town halls to express their disapproval.
Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters, testified against HB 294 on Nov. 17.
“We support a few provisions, of course, the appropriations for more e-pollbooks, establishing online absentee requests, and requiring standards for print vendors,” Miller told committee members. “On balance, though, we see that the bill would make elections unnecessarily more complicated, expensive, and inefficient for boards of elections and voters alike.”
House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz, who is co-sponsor of the bill, said in testimony, “This bill represents months—and in some cases years—of work as we constantly seek to modernize our election laws with the view of making it easy to vote and harder to cheat.”
Absentee ballots are an integral part of the measure.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office has mailed every Ohio voter an absentee ballot application before elections in even-numbered years since 2012. In August, around 8 million applications were sent to voters for the Nov. 8 election, according to LaRose’s office.
Through funds approved by the General Assembly, the Secretary of State’s office prepaid the return postage fees in the most recent election.
If passed, the new version of HB 294 would stop that practice. Instead, voters would request an absentee ballot online, by phone, or by printing and mailing the form to the county board of elections.
“Sending out absentee ballots to every registered voter could also be used to check the accuracy of the voter rolls,” Miller said. “The forms that are returned as undeliverable could then be flagged and further investigated to determine if those voters are deceased or have moved.”
Seitz said, “It is not necessary to send a letter to all registered voters inviting them to apply on paper.”
“That said, I am willing, if the Senate is willing, to restore the current law provision whereby the Secretary of State may make these mailings if the General Assembly approves on a case-by-case basis,” Seitz added.
The bill’s new version would shorten the time absentee ballots are authorized to arrive at the board of elections from 10 days after the election to seven days.
It would also change the due date for an absentee ballot application from noon on the third day before Election Day to the close of business seven days before Election Day.
Under the current format, it’s difficult for boards of elections to accommodate voters who wait until the last day to request an absentee ballot, Ohio Association of Election Officials Executive Director Aaron Ockerman told a Columbus TV station.
“Even though there’s no postal service on Sunday, somehow all those ballots have to get to voters on Monday—that just doesn’t happen,” Ockerman said. “If you request your ballot on Saturday, we process it and it breaks our heart. There’s no way a voter is gonna get a ballot by Monday.”
The revised measure would also eliminate automated voter registration through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, increase ballot drop box security rules, ban most August special elections, and permit no more than three drop boxes outside of a county’s board of elections from the close of voter registration to when polls close on Election Day.
HB 294 clarifies that Ohio voters can use electronic and paper copies of utility bills, bank statements, paychecks, or government-issued checks to confirm their identity.
Photo ID is not addressed in HB 294. That issue was presented in Senate Bill 320, which would require Ohioans to display photo ID before casting a ballot.
The proposed legislation, which was introduced last year and is still awaiting a vote, would task the BMV to issue free state ID cards to Ohioans 17 and older.
If SB 320 is signed into law, bank statements, utility bills, and other acceptable forms of ID under current state law would no longer be allowed, the bill’s text explains.
Seitz told Cleveland.com that some of the adjustments in the revised legislation were implemented in response to concerns from Democrats with the original version. Other alterations were incorporated after “a great deal of negotiations” with the GOP-controlled Senate, Seitz added.
Republicans are trying to pass HB 294 before the end of the legislature’s current session. Bills that don’t pass before the end of the year must be introduced again once next year’s session begins.
