Election Reforms can — PROTECT Democracy . . . and the Republic
DAMAGING VOTER ACCESS
Eliminating polling locations in selected areas creates long lines that discourage and prevent targeted citizens from voting-- (Wikimedia Commons License)
DAMAGING VOTER ACCESS IN OHIO
In Ohio, the State Legislature passed Substitute House Bill 458 and signed it into law in January, 2023 that will prevent targeted segments of Citizens from voting. This new anti-democratic legislation has a number of provisions, one of which includes the requirement that Voters going to the polls now will be limited to showing, primarily, an Ohio driver’s license (or a couple of other difficult ID options). Using a utility bill or a bank statement or a payroll check will no longer be permitted.
VOTER FRAUD ALMOST NONEXISTENT IN OHIO
Sponsors of this new anti-democratic law argue that it is being done to reduce Voter Fraud, in spite of there being overwhelming evidence that such conduct is almost nonexistent in Ohio.
RESTRICTING IDs, ABSENTEE BALLOTS, DROP BOXES, AND MORE TO SUPPRESS VOTERS
The Sponsors of this anti-democratic legislation are certainly aware that there are many citizens who tend to vote for Democratic candidates that do not possess a driver’s license. They are aware that many students at Ohio colleges who tend to vote for Democrats do not have a State of Ohio driver’s license. They are also aware that the alternate permitted IDs that include a Passport or an Ohio BMV issued ID will be a barrier for many citizens.
There are other provisions of this legislation that include reducing the time to return absentee ballots, limiting drop boxes to one per county, and other provisions that further restrict and prevent targeted segments of Ohio citizens from Voting.
How do Anti-Democratic laws that Suppress targeted segments of Voters advance Fair Elections in Ohio?
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IN THE NEWS
Published by The Associated Press
C10.) Voting rights advocates ask federal judge to toss Ohio voting restrictions they say violate ADA
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
May 24, 2024
Voting rights advocates asked a federal judge on Friday to strike down restrictions contained in Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law that they say restrict a host of trusted individuals from helping voters with disabilities cast absentee ballots.
The law, which went into effect in April 2023, makes it a felony for anyone who isn’t an election official or mail carrier to possess or return the absentee ballot of a voter with a disability, unless the person assisting them falls within a prescribed list of close relatives.
Voting rights advocates say many voters with disabilities are unable to travel to their polling place and many are unable to access their mailbox or ballot dropbox.
Published by The Guardian
C9.) Ohio’s quarter-mile early-voting lines? That’s what voter suppression looks like.
By David Litt
Oct 08, 2020
“In-person early voting started in Ohio this week . . . In Columbus, the line stretched for a quarter of a mile. In Cuyahoga County, the hours-long wait began before polls even opened . . . (because) the number of in-person early voting sites (in Ohio) is limited to just one per county.”
“Ohio’s politicians have made voting far easier for Republicans and far more difficult for Democrats.”
“The goal of LaRose’s one-polling-place-per-county order is no different than that of the politicians who devised Georgia’s county unit system more than 100 years ago: diminish the political power of the cities at the expense of the countryside.”
Published on WRGT Dayton 247 Now
C8.) “Bipartisan elections official agrees: Ohio doesn’t need photo ID for voting“
by Darrel Rowland
December 20, 2022
“”We think that the laws as they currently stand — which include photo ID but also include things like government documents or bank statements or any kind of military ID — those all really work well,” the group’s longtime executive director, Aaron Ockerman, told ABC 6 On Your Side. “
“”We just don’t think there’s this huge urgency to change something that isn’t broken.””
“The bill to require Ohioans to present a photo ID before they can vote passed in the middle of the night on the final day of the state legislature’s two-year session last week.
“Ohio’s new voter photo ID law could be the most restrictive in America.”
Published by The Guardian
C7.) “Ohio Republicans quietly enact ‘alarming’ new voting restrictions“
Law puts Ohio among states with strictest voter ID rules and will make it harder for elderly people, the disabled and the poor to vote
Sam Levine in New York
January 18/19, 2023
“Ohio Republicans quietly enacted a measure earlier this month that imposes sweeping new restrictions on voting access in the state, including more stringent voter ID requirements, cutting the early voting period and giving voters less time to return their mail-in ballots.”
“Those new restrictions will make it harder for people who tend to lack identification – elderly people, the disabled and the poor – to vote, voting rights advocates said.”
“It’s not clear how many voters in Ohio don’t have ID. One analysis from the state legislature estimated it could be hundreds of thousands of people, according to a state legislative analysis.”
“The new measure also gets rid of early voting on the final Monday before an election – typically a busy day. . . . It also takes aim at mail-in voting, which surged in popularity during the pandemic. . .”
“The new law also tightens the window during which voters must request and return mail-in ballots. Voters must now request a mail-in ballot seven days before election day instead of three. A ballot postmarked by election day must now arrive no later than four days after election day to be counted, a drop from the 10 days that were allowed.”
Published on Military.com by the Associated Press
C6.) GOP Action on Mail Ballot Timelines Angers Military Families
By Julie Carr Smyth and Gary Fields
January 19, 2023
“Ohio’s restrictive new election law (HB458) significantly shortens the window for mailed ballots to be received — despite no evidence that the extended timeline has led to fraud or any other problems — and that change is angering active-duty members of the military and their families because of its potential to disenfranchise them.”
“The new law reduces the number of days for county election boards to include mailed ballots in their tallies from 10 days after Election Day to four. Critics say that could lead more ballots from Ohio’s military voters to miss the deadline and get tossed.”
“Republicans’ claims that Ohio needs to clamp down in the name of election integrity run counter to GOP officials’ glowing assessments of the state’s current system. Ohio reported a near-perfect tally of its 2020 presidential election results, for example, and fraud referrals represent a tiny fraction of the ballots cast.”
Published in Ohio Capital Journal
C5.) LaRose used hyperbolic scare tactics to attack voters and making voting harder. Now he plays victim
By Marilou Johanek
February 14, 2023
“MAGA Republicans in Ohio aren’t reforming the state’s election system. They uniformly praise Ohio’s election apparatus as the gold standard of integrity and confirm no widespread fraud in Ohio (and as a result, do not) justify sweeping changes to the voting process.”
“Ohio’s chief election officer (Frank LaRose) is perpetuating a hoax. He is not fixing anything that’s broken in the state’s free, fair, secure, and incredibly accurate elections.”
“How do you improve elections (by putting in place) burdensome difficulties that disproportionally affect the disabled, the elderly, the poor, the young who now have to travel to identification-issuing offices with qualifying documents they must produce (and pay for) just to vote?”
“The League of Women Voters of Ohio noted it’s hard to “partner” with someone (Frank LaRose) who ignores repeated requests for a meeting. Meanwhile, confusion reigns, voter outreach programs remain uncertain, and early in-person voting and absentee voting for the May primary begins in a month and half.”
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (Photo by Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal)
Published by News5 Cleveland
C4.) “Religious groups, legislators butt heads on new election law”
By Morgan Trau
February 23, 2022
“Ohio (religious) congregations are known for their efforts to encourage people to vote, but a new law may stunt that.”
“Since the bill (now a law- O.R.C.3501.054- Anti-Collaboration Ban) would prohibit government officials and entities from working with non-government groups, many state-run programs to get people registered, take them to the polls, and educate them about voting would be illegal.”
This new law was buried in a State Budget Bill in 2021:
“The short provision sits on page 429 of the nearly 500-page final analysis of House Bill 110, the budget. Coming from her nearly four decades of experience as a (Cleveland) litigation lawyer, (Barbara) Yaksic thought this law was purposely hidden.”
“Despite the head of elections and top legal officer saying everything is okay — legally speaking, election officials could technically still get sued or get a first degree misdemeanor.”
Published by Spectrum News 1
C3.) Groups across Ohio suing Secretary of State’s office over HB 458
By Samantha Sheikh
January 12, 2023
Several Ohio organizations are suing the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office over provisions in House Bill 458 that include restricting voter IDs and limiting the time to submit absentee ballots, contending that these provisions are unconstitutional.
The plaintiff groups in this litigation include the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
These organizations . . . “say strict voter ID requirements and mail-in ballot restrictions could hinder certain groups of people.”
According to the plaintiffs . . . “This bill imposes needless and discriminatory burdens on Ohioans’ fundamental right to vote.”
Published by WCMH TV–NBC4 (Columbus)
C2.) “These nine Ohio-based Fortune 500 companies donated to election deniers’ campaigns“
By Jamie Ostroff
December 9, 2022
” . . . 147 members of Congress objected to the results of the presidential election despite no findings of widespread fraud. Many of those members ran for re-election, with support from major corporations based in Ohio.”
“Some companies, after making public statements about suspending support for candidates who voted against certifying the election results on January 6, 2021, quietly resumed donating to their campaigns.”
Published by CNN
C1.) Ohio becomes sixth state to leave voting integrity group targeted by Trump and conservative groups
By Fredreka Schouten
March 17, 2023
” Ohio on Friday became the latest state to leave an obscure multi-state consortium (ERIC) that aims to help maintain accurate voter rolls but has become a growing target for conservative groups.”
“On March 6, . . . former President Donald Trump – the chief proponent of the falsehood that voter fraud contributed to his 2020 defeat –urged all Republicans governors to end their participation with the group, saying it “pumps the rolls” for Democrats.”
“This is clearly an example of disinformation,” said Trey Grayson, a Republican and former Kentucky secretary of state who has defended the integrity of elections. “I find it incredibly frustrating that there’s been this attempt to undermine an organization that’s doing a good job.”
“Election experts say ERIC is currently the best tool available to perform interstate crosschecks because government agencies have unique access to key records – . . . – to track the movement of individuals across states and accurately identify voters who might have similar names.”
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