Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

  • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
  • About Us
    • Our Mission & Role
    • Our Team
    • Job Opportunities
  • Our Work
    • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
  • The Latest
    • Updates
    • IO in the News
    • 2022 Ohio Election Hub
    • 2022 Legislative Scorecard: House Representatives
  • Take Action
  • Donate

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

Oct 29 2012

Just in Time for Halloween: Jeep Ad Meant to Scare – But Claim is Fantasy

Innovation Ohio is on the op-ed page of The Plain Dealer today sharing our research – and the truth – about the positive jobs effect of the auto rescue for Ohio. But, just like Whack-a-Mole, one more lie about Ohio’s auto industry pops up as soon the record is corrected on the previous one. Why fudge the facts on auto jobs and the importance of the industry to Ohio? Our state is at the center of the political universe until Election Day. Pundits from one end of the country to the other believe the presidential vote in Ohio will determine the outcome of the race. The Romney campaign has rightly identified President Barack Obama’s support of the auto rescue as a huge advantage for the president in the state. Since the rescue was fully implemented – mid-2009 – more than 17,000 auto jobs have been added in Ohio. Gov. Mitt Romney was publicly against the auto rescue – he’s trying mightily not to have to pay the political price for that position. [Read more…]

Written by ronsylvester · Categorized: Innovation Station · Tagged: Auto Jobs, Jeep, John Kasich, Ohio, Ohio Economy, Ohio Elections

Oct 16 2012

Husted issues directive statewide on in person absentee voting on last weekend before election

After the U.S. Supreme Court refused Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s latest attempt to block in-person early voting on the weekend before Election Day in Ohio, Husted has come to his senses and has issued a directive regarding the matter to county boards of elections: The hours set in Secretary Husted’s directive are:
  • Saturday, November 3, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 4, 2012 – 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  • Monday, November 5, 2012 – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Husted has taken Ohio voters on a quite unnecessary ride this election season with repeated attempts to block so-called ‘last weekend’ in person absentee voting. Today’s move is a welcome one for voters. After all, the job of secretary of state is to make voting easier – not harder. Husted took some lumps over ‘last weekend’ voting because it is a tradition in many African American communities. At times he has looked intransigent over the past several weeks as court after court rejected his arguments to limit voting access on the final weekend. The 6th Circuit Court said the state could not “justify reducing the opportunity to vote by a considerable segment of the voting population”, especially “when there is no evidence that local boards of elections will be unable to cope with more early voters,” just last week. It remains to be seen whether or not the Ohio GOP will continue what has become a national scale effort by Republicans to continue to push limits on voter rights. Let’s hope the confusion and mayhem sown by Husted during this cycle doesn’t portend greater challenges ahead. [Read more…]

Written by ronsylvester · Categorized: Innovation Station · Tagged: Jon Husted, Ohio Elections

Sep 11 2012

Voters in Ohio not aligned with the ‘cheating’ part of GOP agenda

PPP Poll shows early voting on weekend before election favored by Ohioans There is a trajectory voters in Ohio have been on since 2004 when it comes to open, easy access to the polls – and unfortunately the direction is no longer up. Secretary of State Jon Husted has made a mess of things by forcing counties to scale back early voting hours, providing shoddy guidance to boards of elections and then firing local elections officials who challenge his directives. The state is in court over the whole mess – it’s just been mass confusion from the start. [Read more…]

Written by ronsylvester · Categorized: Fair and Open Elections, Innovation Station · Tagged: 2012, Jon Husted, Ohio Elections, Public Policy Polling, Voting Rights

Stay informed about key issues and bills.

Sign Up

We monitor Ohio politicians to help you hold them accountable.

  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Our Work
  • The Latest
  • IO in the News
  • Take Action
  • Donate
Innovation Ohio

360 S. 3rd Street, 3rd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215
614-220-0150
info@innovationohio.org

© Innovation Ohio 2020