To Chairwoman Ray, Vice Chair LaRe, Ranking Member Brent, and members of the House General Government Committee, thank you for this opportunity to provide opponent testimony on House Joint Resolution 9.
The ACLU of Ohio’s opposition to HJR 9 is much less about the underlying policy issue of photo IDs for voters and much more about taking away valuable policy and legislative time to quickly place an unneeded constitutional amendment on the ballot for purely political reasons.
Of course, photo ID for voting is already law in Ohio. That was accomplished because of “fraud concerns” even though, here in Ohio, voter fraud happens so infrequently, is so extremely uncommon, it can statistically and accurately be
framed as happening 0% of the time.
However, fanning the flames of essentially nonexistent voter fraud is always a convenient pivot for politicians who have no answers, no energy, no inclination to tackle the numerous and serious problems facing so many
Ohioans.
Swear to people, over and over, there are bad actors behind every corner spending all their waking hours trying to subvert Ohio’s already stringent voter ID laws and throw our elections and some of those people may (temporarily) forget their substandard or complete lack of health care, their falling wages, their struggling schools, and continually climbing prices for essentials, utilities, and everything else, among many other concerns.
Meanwhile, voting keeps getting progressively more difficult in Ohio as this body chips away at election laws over the years, always to make it more difficult, but never to facilitate voting and expand the number of qualified voters. Indeed, one wonders what HJR 9 authors and supporters intend with this language tucked into the end of the resolution:
(C) Nothing in this section requires the general assembly to pass laws allowing electors to vote in any location or manner other than in person at a polling place on the day of an election.
Ohioans overwhelmingly passed an abortion freedom amendment 2.5 years ago. Yet, today, numerous anti-choice laws remain in the Ohio Revised Code, obviously in violation of the Ohio Constitution, but untouched by the General Assembly.
Over 10 years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld marriage equality for same sex couples, including here in Ohio. Yet, the prohibitions still “outlawing” it remain in our state constitution and the Ohio Revised Code.
The ACLU of Ohio respectfully submits those examples, also involving Ohio’s constitution, are just two issues, among many others, well overdue for attention from this body.
But, instead, here we are debating rapidly enshrining something into the state constitution that is already law, that no one anywhere in Ohio is angling to change, while so much more goes ignored and unaddressed. Again, for purely electoral reasons, not policy ones.
For these reasons and more, the ACLU of Ohio urges this committee’s rejection of House Joint Resolution 9.
