Re-Heat and Serve: Ohio Election Battles Ignite Again as Legislature Prepares to Adjourn for 2013
[Image courtesy of discoverohio]
A new set of election bills in the Ohio Legislature once again has the parties at loggerheads with one another. The Norwalk Reflector has more:
Voting advocates … urged Gov. John Kasich to veto bills headed for his desk that they argue could make it more difficult to cast a ballot and be sure it was counted.
The Ohio Senate has gone home for the year, but the state House of Representatives is expected to return next week to consider several election-related bills passed by the upper chamber.
The measures would increase the information voters must provide to obtain absentee ballots and prohibit mass-mailing of absentee ballot applications to registered voters by any public official other than the secretary of state — and even then, only when the General Assembly appropriates funding.
Another would reduce the number of days for absentee voting by mail or in person to eliminate the so-called “Golden Week,” in which would-be voters could register and then immediately cast a ballot. Yet another would increase information sharing among governmental entities, such as death certificates and driver’s license information, for cross-referencing with the state’s voter-registration database and change the formula to require fewer voting machines.
More controversial bills have been introduced that would do such things as further restrict early voting days and hours and require voters to show photo identification. Those have yet to see action.
Part of the frustration in the Buckeye State is that these same changes were considered, adopted then rescinded during a similar controversy last year:
Some measures would re-enact, on a piecemeal basis, provisions similar to those included in a Republican-backed law passed in 2011 that was repealed months later by the Republican majority once it was clear a referendum challenging it was headed to the ballot.
“What we see now is a rebuilding of House Bill 194 brick by brick …,” said Deirdre Reese, coordinator of the Columbus-based Ohio Unity Coalition. “We have seen bills rush through so quickly, it really should make your head spin.”
Depending on what the House does, the spotlight could quickly shift to Gov. John Kasich:
If the chamber makes no changes, the bills could go directly to Mr. Kasich’s desk. If it does amend them, they would have to return to the Senate for concurrence, a move that would carry debate into 2014.
“It is possible they will come up for a vote,” House Republican spokesman Mike Dittoe said. “The caucus will talk early next week. … I don’t think there’s any sense we’re trying to rush anything. We’re trying to make good policy.”
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols offered no commitments, saying only that the governor’s office is monitoring the bills as the legislative process continues.
“If the General Assembly doesn’t slow down the train, it’s the responsibility of the governor to do so,” said Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio.
Opponents of the bills are even seeking the aid of the Secretary of State; according to the Youngstown Vindicator:
Rep. Ron Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, sent a letter … to the chairman of the House committee considering the election reform bills, calling for Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted to testify on their potential impact on next year’s election.
“Twenty bills have been introduced since January of this year, and many are still pending in our chambers,” Gerberry wrote. “We need to know if the secretary can train hundreds of board of elections staffers and 40,000 poll workers on this slew of changes.”
As always, developments in Ohio are important and worth watching. Stay tuned …