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Jan 19 2023

HB 458: Voter Suppression in Disguise

After hours on Friday, January 6, 2023, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 458 (HB 458) into law. While originally proposed in 2021 as a 15-page bill intended to eliminate most August special elections, the final 157-page version amended by House Republicans and enacted by DeWine, features an extensive list of alarming updates to Ohio’s election laws, including: a photo identification (ID) requirement for all voters, including provisional voters and those confined in Ohio jails or hospitals; the elimination of early voting on Mondays before Election Day and the six additional hours it provides voters to cast their ballots; a prohibition against a single 24/7 ballot drop box at county Boards of Elections (BOE); and the requirement that absentee ballots be requested sooner and received by BOEs by the close of polls on Election Day, regardless of their postmark date. Touted as an opportunity to promote election integrity, voting rights organizations across the state rightfully beg to differ. 

In the days leading up to the passage  of HB458, the Ohio Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Ohio branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among other progressive organizations, protested the law’s failure to address the anticipated impact of this law on Ohio’s most vulnerable communities. According to Innovation Ohio’s President and CEO, Desiree Tims: “Experts tell us that as many as 11% of Ohio adults do not have a driver’s license or state ID card. Younger Ohioans are driving less, and many older and low-income Ohioans do not drive. That’s over 800,000 eligible adults who would have significant trouble voting under HB 458. If Governor DeWine values the freedom to vote and civil rights of Ohioans, then he will veto HB 458.” 

Tim’s sentiments speak to the burden associated with obtaining a photo ID that will disproportionately fall upon poor, disabled and transient citizens that do not presently meet the requirements under HB 458;  populations overrepresented by women and members of Black and immigrant communities. In practice, the cost of transportation to and from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) where IDs must be obtained, and the administrative hassle associated with compiling the documents necessary to present to BMV officials, will operate as a sort of poll tax, and thus deterrent, for those who historically were able to provide various alternatives to photo ID as proof of identity at polling locations. Recent developments have also confirmed that certain Veteran ID cards will also be excluded from those accepted at BOEs; disenfranchising the very citizens whose sacrifices make American democracy possible.

This past December, North Carolina’s Supreme Court struck down a voter ID law for its disparate impact on Black voters and proof of discriminatory intent. Hoping for a similar outcome, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans and Union Veterans Council filed suit against Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank Larose and the 88 BOEs that will enforce the law. Arguing that it “will severely restrict Ohioans’ access to the polls—particularly those voters who are young, elderly, and Black, as well as those serving in the military and others living abroad” and “imposes needless and discriminatory burdens on Ohioans’ fundamental right to vote” in violation of the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Plaintiffs are prepared to exhaust all legal remedies to protect Ohio voters. 

Until the courts reach a resolution, advocates must focus on educating their constituents regarding these sudden changes to Ohio’s election law, name those responsible for its enactment and prepare for an ultimately unfavorable decision in light of the Ohio Supreme Court’s composition.  In doing so, voters will be empowered to recognize their allies and dispel the myth that Ohio Republican’s obsession with election integrity is anything more than voter suppression in disguise.

Written by Nick Tuell · Categorized: Uncategorized · Tagged: democracy, Ohio, Ohio Politics

Dec 06 2022

Problems with Sub HB 294 — Ohio’s Anti-Voter Bill

Sub HB 294, legislation currently on the fast track to pass during the post-election “lame duck” legislature, represents a direct attack on Ohioans’ voting rights.

Sub HB294 restricts access to the ballot in several key ways:

  • Cuts time for requesting and returning mail-in ballots.
  • Eliminates the final day of early voting. The final Monday is one of the busiest days of early voting.
  • Restricts the availability and locations of ballot dropboxes
  • Changes ID requirements on absentee form making it 3-tiered and more confusing.
  • Prohibits government agencies from pre-paying the postage on ballots and ballot request forms, even for overseas military voters.
  • Creates a new online absentee ballot request system that’s more restrictive than the paper form, adding two mandatory forms of identification.
  • And, if bill supporters’ claims are true, the bill will be amended tomorrow to include a strict photo ID requirement for in-person voting, something that will disenfranchise tens of thousands of mostly younger, minority and older voters.

Most Ohioans believe that every eligible person should be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote, have equal access to the voting process and should be able to trust the integrity of our elections. Ohioans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support policies that help everyone exercise their right to vote, including:

  • Prepaid postage on absentee ballots and ballot requests
  • Secure ballot drop boxes available throughout each county
  • Multiple early vote centers
  • Mailing all eligible voters an absentee ballot application

Sub HB294 does the opposite and makes voting more unequal and less accessible for many voters. It’s worse than voter suppression; it’s voter selection. This bill makes voting harder for specific groups of Ohioans, including younger and older voters, Black and brown voters and those with limited income.

What Sub HB 294 Does:

  • Cuts early voting hours, removing the last Monday of early voting, one of the busiest voting days.
  • Severely limits the use of ballot drop boxes
  • Limits access to absentee ballots
  • Forces most Ohioans to pay for postage on absentee ballots / ballot request forms. Even military voters.
  • Changes ID requirements on absentee ballot forms, making them three-tiered and more confusing.
  • Makes it much easier to vote in some small counties than in major urban areas by failing to address current proportionality issues (and actually writing some of the issues into law).
    • There would be the same number of drop boxes and early voting locations for a county of 8,000 vs a county of 800,000.
  • Even the pieces of this bill that seem to expand voting options are actually problematic.
    • Example: HB 294 adds an online ballot request option….with such a strict ID requirement that most college students can’t even use it.
  • HB 294 will institute discriminatory barriers that make it harder for certain Ohioans to vote. The bill will disproportionately impact Military personnel, low-income residents, Black and brown Ohioans, College students, people with disabilities, people who are house-insecure, Rural residents and older voters.
  • HB 294 punishes Ohioans for being poor. Don’t have a car? Can’t afford postage? Don’t have two forms of ID? Change addresses frequently? HB294 makes it much harder for you to vote

TAKE ACTION. Tell these lawmakers to kill Sub HB 294.

  • Email Your State Representative
  • Tell Committee Chair Shane Wilkin to stop Sub HB294
    • 614-466-3506
    • Rep91@OhioHouse.gov
    • https://twitter.com/wilkinohio
  • Tell Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp to stop Sub HB294
    • 614-466-9624
    • Rep04@OhioHouse.gov
    • https://twitter.com/SpeakerCupp

MORE INFORMATION

  • READ THE BILL — Ohio House Bill (HB) 294

DONATE to help Innovation Ohio fight this attack on your constitutional rights.

Written by Rachel Coyle · Categorized: 2022 Election, Democracy, Fair and Open Elections, Take Action · Tagged: 2022 Election, democracy, Elections, Ohio Elections, ohio voting, Voting Rights

May 08 2021

Our Right to Vote is Under Attack — Statement from Desiree Tims

Most Ohioans believe every eligible person should be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Our laws should help everyone participate in the process.

But Ohio’s Republican supermajority just introduced a bill to do the opposite.

HB 294 is worse than voter suppression. It’s voter selection. It would let Ohio’s Republican supermajority decide who gets to vote, and who doesn’t.

This bill would:

  • Cut early voting hours
  • Severely limit ballot drop boxes
  • Limit access to absentee ballots
  • Force most Ohioans to pay for postage on absentee ballots and ballot request forms
  • Make it 100x easier to vote in some small counties than in major urban areas

They’re trying to choose which of us can vote. Plain and simple. We cannot let them succeed.

Tell House Speaker Bob Cupp to kill HB 294. Tell him Ohio is watching.

  • Phone: 614-466-9624
  • Email: Rep04@OhioHouse.gov
  • Or contact him via Twitter

It will take all of us together to stop this attack on our freedoms.

In Solidarity,
Desiree Tims
President & CEO
Innovation Ohio

Written by Desiree Tims · Categorized: 2022 Election, Democracy, Fair and Open Elections, Take Action · Tagged: 2022 Election, democracy, Elections, Voting, Voting Rights

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