Voting Rights

In 2012 partisan politicians waged a full frontal assault on voting rights.

This year it’s a sneak attack.

An amendment has been added to the massive state budget bill (HB 59) designed to make it more difficult for students to vote in their college communities. This amendment would require public colleges and universities to charge the in-state tuition rate (as opposed to the higher out of state tuition rate) to any student issued proof of residency for voting purposes.

Supporters claim the amendment is aimed at lowering tuition. In reality, the provision is intended to suppress the vote.  By stripping away hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from schools that provide proof of residency to out-of-state students, schools will have little choice but to stop providing this documentation.  The result?  Students will have a harder time voting – even though they have every legal right to vote in their college communities.

This is no accident, it’s a political tactic. This amendment has passed the Ohio House and is now in the Senate.

We are asking the Chairman of the Ohio Senate Finance Committee to remove this amendment from HB 59.

Click here to do the same. We’ve already prepared the language to get you started!

In the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election, the ACLU of Ohio received numerous reports of voter and poll worker confusion on Election Day. Common complaints included confusion over voter ID requirements and polling locations, and an overreliance on provisional ballots.

As a non-profit, non-partisan organization, our goal is to ensure that every citizen is able to exercise his or her right to vote, free from unnecessary barriers and restrictions. We urge that any voting reform include:

• Extended, uniform early in-person voting hours, to ensure that voters across the state have more access to vote.
• Permanent funding to send absentee ballot applications to all registered voters during presidential and gubernatorial general elections.
• Clear rules for casting and counting of provisional ballots.
• Increased use of technology, such as online voter registration and electronic poll books.

Protect Your Vote! Check out the ACLU of Ohio’s vote center here.
Have you been convicted of a crime? You still have the right to vote.

On Monday, May 7, 2012, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), held a congressional hearing at the Carl B. Stokes United States Court House in Cleveland. This hearing examined the impact of HB 194, which restricts early voting, eliminates the requirement that poll workers direct voters to the proper precinct, and makes it harder to vote absentee. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Durbin at the hearing and the ACLU offered testimony on the negative impact HB 194 would have on Ohio elections.

Click here to read our testimony.

In March 2012, Secretary of State Jon Husted began to advocate the repeal of the controversial HB 194, arguing that it should be scrapped and reexamined after the November 2012 election with legislation that is more bipartisan. Theoretically, repealing HB 194 would render a voter referendum unnecessary, though repealing a law that is under voter referendum is constitutionally unprecedented.

Ohio Republicans have latched onto the repeal plan. Despite Husted’s advice to wait until after the election before exploring any new legislation, some legislators have suggested they might try to replace HB 194 with a new voter suppression bill before the November 2012 election. The ACLU of Ohio strongly opposes any additional changes to voting laws before the presidential election, except to repeal all voter suppression laws that were passed in 2011.

The Ohio General Assembly is currently negotiating the terms of a possible HB 194 repeal. However, some legislators do not want to restore early in-person voting in the three days leading up to the election. Early voting was wildly popular among many Ohioans in 2008, when African-American churches used it to mount “Souls to the Polls” campaigns bringing congregations to boards of elections to vote.

In September 2011, the ACLU of Ohio joined voting rights advocates, state legislators, and labor unions to support a referendum on Ohio House Bill 194, which would severely limit early voting, prohibit poll workers from assisting voters completing forms, and make it more difficult for local boards of elections to promote early voting to all registered voters.

Secretary of State Husted certified the referendum on December 9, 2011. This means H.B. 194 will not be in effect through the November 2012 election, where voters will decide if it should be rejected.

Access to the ballot by minor parties is an important function of democracy. Read the August 2011 Columbus Dispatch article: Libertarian Party sues over minor party access limits in new law.

On June 29, 2011, the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 194, legislation which makes a variety of misguided changes to Ohio’s voting system. The short lines and uncomplicated voting process during 2008’s record voting turnout will be replaced by long waits, confused voters, and a glut of provisional ballots. Provisions of the new legislation include:

• Drastically cutting the timeframe for early in-person voting to 16 days from 35 days;
• Preventing counties from mailing absentee ballot applications to residents; and
• Eliminating the requirement for poll workers to help voters find their right precinct.

During a session on July 13, 2011, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill that corrects one of H.B. 194’s flaws. The bill eliminates the requirement for voters to provide their full Social Security number in order to vote a provisional ballot. Unfortunately, the bill also eliminates online registration and the voter’s ability to present an ID at their local Board of Election before the polls close, if they didn’t have it while voting.

Read testimony in opposition to these measures here.

Thanks to the efforts of activists and advocacy groups, the Ohio General Assembly has not yet passed House Bill 159. However, the OGA will continue to debate the bill, which would be the most restrictive in the country. Under the new law, Ohioans could only vote with one of the following IDs:

• Ohio driver’s license,
• Ohio state ID card,
• Military photo ID, or
• U.S. Passport.

H.B. 159 could deny the right to vote to thousands who do not have the limited identification accepted and would disproportionately affect low-income, disabled, racial and ethnic minorities, college students, and elderly. The measure has even been opposed by Republican Secretary of State John Husted, who recognized that it is unnecessary and costly. Click here for one real life example.

The Secretary of State oversees the election process in each of Ohio’s 88 counties, and registration is required to vote. Information about registering and voting is available here.

Ohioans can also participate in elections by becoming poll workers, and high school seniors who are at least 17 years old can be excused from school for one day to work the polls. For more information click here, or contact the local board of elections.

Read about voting rights lawsuits filed by the ACLU in Ohio in 2006 and 2008.

Learn more about Voting Rights at the ACLU national website.