Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

New Report: With Ohio Legislature In Chaos, Frank LaRose Must Act

We’re back with a mid-week update to give you the backstory on Innovation Ohio’s latest analysis, outlining four actions Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose can take today to make the November election safer & more accessible.

Ohio Senate Refuses to Pass Bad Voting Bill, Calls For More Hearings on HB680

Now it’s up to Secretary of State Frank LaRose to make sure the November election is safe for all Ohio voters.

In Monday’s update, we wrote about an Ohio Senate hearing and possible vote on a bill (House Bill 680) to move up the deadline to request an absentee ballot in November. The bill would also unnecessarily tie the hands of the Secretary of State, disallowing him from doing a number of things to make it easier to vote by mail. A lot has happened since then.

Many Senators and witnesses, including Sec. LaRose, support the idea to move up the deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot to ensure mail delays don’t result in voters receiving it too late to return it by the deadline. However, other provisions in the bill — revoking the Secretary’s authority to provide return postage for ballots and failing to explicitly authorize a way for voters to request their absentee ballot online — appear unpopular among Senators on a bipartisan basis, and the Chairman held the bill over for future hearings.

If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, it would need action by the House in order to become law – a 90-day process that already puts us in late October.
On Tuesday, as HB680 was being heard, news broke of a $60 million corruption scandal involving the House Speaker.

Larry Householder has resisted calls to step down and members of his leadership team continue to oppose calls to expel him. Until the House replaces the Speaker — who as a condition of his release on felony charges — cannot travel or be in contact with any potential witnesses in the case — it cannot function to do the work of the people.

Innovation Ohio Calls on Secretary of State Frank LaRose To Act

Read the full report here

In order to have a safe and accessible election, Ohio voters have only one hope left and it’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Today we published an analysis showing that the Secretary has the authority, without an act of the legislature, to:

  • Include and pay for return postage on all absentee ballot applications and ballots
  • Allow voters to submit an absentee ballot request online
  • Establish multiple secure drop boxes for absentee ballot return
  • Commit to resist efforts to close polling locations, which only results in longer lines and more crowded indoor spaces

Read our analysis of Frank LaRose’s legal authority to protect the November election

Take Action

Sign All In For Ohio’s petition

Sign the petition

It’s time for LaRose to act with or without the assistance of the legislature. All In For Ohio has created a petition you can sign to send a message to Secretary of State LaRose that our elections are too important to be held up thanks to a dysfunctional legislature. 

Sign the petition today to send a message to Frank LaRose that it’s time to act.

Ohio Senate May Vote On Harmful Elections Bill, HB 680

Send your Senator a letter urging them to amend H.B. 680

At The Statehouse: Senate May Vote TOMORROW On Harmful Elections Bill 

After a quiet month of summer break, the Ohio Senate returns for a day of committee hearings and floor votes tomorrow, and, at the top of their agenda, is HB 680, an election bill that makes it harder to vote early, in-person, and by mail, and does nothing to improve the safety or accessibility of voting in November. The bill was passed by the Ohio House last month on a party-line vote. Tomorrow the Senate will get its turn.

House Bill 680, as passed by the House, would:

  • Require Ohioans to pay for postage on absentee ballot applications and on any absentee ballots themselves
  • Limit each County to only one Early Vote and secure ballot drop box location no matter its size or population.
  • Force Ohioans to request absentee ballots by mail instead of online.
  • Prohibit the Governor and Ohio Department of Health Director from “causing an election to be conducted other than the time, place, and manner prescribed by the Revised Code,” effectively tying official’s hands to change aspects of the election even if the pandemic continues to worsen.
  • Shorten the time to request a vote-by-mail ballot

Despite repeatedly saying he wants to allow Ohioans to request an absentee ballot online and that forcing voters to pay for return postage is likely “unconstitutional,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is inexplicably supporting the passage of HB 680.

Reports suggest the Secretary of State and local election officials are primarily interested in moving up the deadline to request an absentee ballot, but if that’s the case, they should condition their endorsement on improvements to the bill that make it easier — not harder — for Ohioans to exercise alternatives to voting in person on election day.

The bill is up for its first and last Senate hearing tomorrow, setting it up for a likely floor vote at tomorrow’s 1:30 pm session. See “Statehouse Meetings and Events” below for details on watching or testifying at tomorrow’s hearing. 
Here is a tool you can use to send a note to your State Senator to ask them to fix HB 680.

Take Action on HB 680

House Bill 680 — up for a vote in the Ohio Senate as early as tomorrow, July 21 — does nothing to make our elections safer or more accessible in November. 

Contact your state Senator and ask them to amend HB 680 with the following voting improvements:

  • Prepaid postage on absentee applications and ballots,
  • Online absentee ballot requests, and
  • Multiple, secure and convenient drop boxes to return absentee ballots

Click here to send an email to your Senator now!

New Legislation This Week

Below are some of the new bills introduced in the last several weeks since we last sent an update. You can also view the complete list of bills we’re tracking.

Ohio Democratic Leaders Condemn Republican Voter Suppression Bill, Call on LaRose to Take More Proactive Action

Columbus, OH – Today, leading Ohio Democratic elected officials held a press call to condemn Ohio Republicans for failing to secure safe and accessible elections this fall and calling on Secretary LaRose to take specific actions. 

A recording of the call is available here. (Password: 6t&W626p)

New data shows over 1.5% of all votes (over 30,000 absentee and provisional ballots) cast in the spring primary were thrown out. Those tend to be disproportionately young people, seniors, Black people, and poor people who lack access to transportation and technology.

“We’re going to have a closely-watched, high-turnout, tight-margin election this fall, and that does not give me confidence that Ohioans are going to be able to have faith in the outcome,” said Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, identifying this as a civil rights issue. “Over the last two weeks, as White and Black Ohioans have been marching together outside on the Statehouse lawn for justice, the Republican majority was inside giving a masterclass in systemic racism.” He asked Republicans to “take their knee off the necks” of Ohioans and let them vote.

They called on the Secretary of State to maximize existing authority to ensure access in the November election. “We’re happy that the Secretary of State announced last night that he plans to use funding from the Controlling Board to send absentee ballot request forms to registered voters. We’re happy that he plans to continue something that has happened in Ohio ever since 2012. It is literally the least he could do,” said Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval. 

They called on LaRose to: 

  1. Put pre-paid postage on those ballot request forms using funding from the Controlling Board, failure of which constitutes a poll tax and which the Secretary of State has said himself in past letters to the legislature is likely unconstitutional.
  2. Create an online absentee ballot request form instead of making people use printers, ink, and stamps to make their request. This power is within his existing authority under ORC 3509. As Secretary of State, Jon Husted similarly used his own authority to create online voter registration updates. 
  3. Implement automatic voter registration administratively, which he has said he supports in the past. This would counteract the likely fall-off in voter drives and motor vehicle registrations not occurring during the pandemic.

Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown introduced a resolution yesterday to declare that the City of Columbus condemns these voter suppression efforts, noting Franklin County, the largest county in Ohio, accounts for about 11% of the state’s population but about 15% of all the absentee and provisional ballots thrown out. She shared several ideas for how cities and counties can remedy the problems the state has failed to solve.  “None of this is an accident,” she said. “We know what this is. It is a recipe for long lines and voter disenfranchisement..If the state is not willing to lead on this matter, then local governments are going to have to step into the breach.” 

State Representative Brigid Kelly condemned House Bill 680 that passed out of the committee on which she is the ranking member. It received no proponent testimony until the Secretary of State suddenly decided to support it even though it does not align with the stated proposals he spent weeks disseminating. “Now the Secretary says he is supporting a bill that does not align with his own priorities. This means the Republicans in the legislature or the Secretary of State are not working for the interests of Ohioans, an overwhelming majority of whom want to make it easier to vote early and by mail.” 

This follows a May 11 press call when these Democrats came together with 20+ elected colleagues across the state to release a letter outlining policies to ensure a safe, accessible, and secure general election. “Unfortunately, it seems we were correct that Republican leaders in Ohio had no interest in ensuring every Ohioan is able to vote this fall,” said Portage County Commissioner Kathleen Clyde. “And unlike with the botched spring primary, there is no possibility of a re-do for the November election. This pandemic is far from over.”

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Ohio extends vote by mail primary until April 28 due to coronavirus. Here is what you need to know

The new deadline to cast your ballot is April 28

We certainly live in uncertain times.

At last, we have a clear answer about how to vote in the Ohio Primary! Initially, that was supposed to happen on March 17 but in-person voting was canceled at the last minute due to justified concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

So what happened?

State lawmakers extended the opportunity to vote by mail in the Ohio Primary until April 28th*

*Ballots must be postmarked by April 27th

If you voted before March 17, great! You’re all set and don’t need to take any action. Your ballot will be counted

There will be no in-person voting for the primary, with the exception of a small group of voters. If you have a disability or are experiencing homelessness, you will be permitted to vote in-person on April 28 at the county Board of Elections where you are registered between 6:30 am – 7:30 pm.

If you haven’t voted in the primary yet, request your ballot immediately.

If you haven’t voted in the primary yet, the best thing you can do is request your ballot immediately (even though boards of elections will technically accept ballot requests until April 25th). By submitting your request early, you can ensure you will have plenty of time ahead of the April 28 deadline to fulfill the required steps, which we will outline below.

Voters will not be automatically provided with a ballot request form.

However, if you are a registered voter in Ohio, you will receive a postcard from the Secretary of State’s office explaining:

  • 1. How to request an absentee ballot
  • 2. The procedure for returning your completed ballot to your county Board of Elections
  • 3. The deadlines for absentee ballot requests and the return of your completed ballot

Some voting rights groups expressed concern that the April 28 deadline selected by the legislature could create logistical challenges due to the requirement that all voters manually request their ballot by mail or phone. Most states with all-mail elections in place send a ballot to all eligible voters.

If only it could be that easy in Ohio, huh?

Again, this is why we encourage you to request your absentee ballot as soon as possible.

STEP ONE – Obtain a ballot request form

There are a few ways you can obtain an absentee ballot request form.

  1. Download and print a request form from the Secretary of State’s website 
  2. Call your county’s Board of Elections to request one over the phone.
  3. Write out the required information on a piece of paper and mail it to or drop it off at the Board of Elections.
Image courtesy of Mia Lewis with Common Cause Ohio on Twitter

STEP TWO – Fill out your ballot request form

The Secretary of State’s website lets you fill it out before you download and print. 

Make sure you sign the form before putting it in an envelope. 

Be careful not to list today’s date where you’re asked to list your birth date (that’s a common mistake).

If you fill the form out by hand, here’s a diagram that may be helpful, courtesy of Ohio Progressive Action Leaders:

Image courtesy of OPAL – Ohio Progressive Action Leaders

STEP THREE – Mail your request form to your county’s Board of Elections

Once you have your request form in-hand and filled out, put a stamp on it, address it to your county’s Board of Elections, and drop it in the mail; or drop it off in-person. All early vote centers should have drop boxes available to do drive-bys.

STEP FOUR – Fill out your ballot when it arrives

Go to the Secretary of State’s website to find your sample ballot for the primary.

STEP FIVE – Return you completed ballot

IMPORTANT: Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than 4/27, or they can be dropped off at vote centers by 4/28.

Frequently Asked Questions

See more FAQs on the Sec. of State’s website.

What election date should I put on my ballot request form? The date of the election technically never changed from March 17, but Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office has stated they will accept March 17, April 28, or June 2 as valid election dates.

Can I request a ballot online? No, although this seems like a commonsense reform worth advocating for, long-term.

What if I don’t have a printer? Not everybody has ready access to a printer, especially right now at a time when many public libraries and office places are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. If you don’t have a printer, call your local county’s board of elections and ask them to mail you an absentee ballot request form. You will still need to complete the form and mail it back before you receive your official ballot.

Can I put multiple applications in one envelope? Yes, but only so long as all the forms are supposed to be delivered to the same county board of elections. 

Do I need to pay for postage? You need postage for when you send in your absentee ballot request form. The postage on your ballot should be prepaid.

Does this mean I can vote in the primary if I register to vote right now? Unfortunately, no. In order to be eligible to cast your primary ballot by mail, you have to have already been registered to vote by February 18, 2020. 

The voter registration deadline for the November 3 General Election is October 5, 2020. You can register to vote online in Ohio at the Secretary of State’s website.

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