577 Latest Step In Attempt to Eliminate Vote-by-Mail Process Used by Millions of Ohio Voters

Columbus, OH - On Tuesday, March 24, the Ohio House General Government Committee held a second hearing on House Bill 577, a measure that would require Ohio voters to include a photocopy of their driver's license when voting by mail. In response, members of the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition issued the following statement.

“The legislature remains deeply out of touch with Ohio voters,” Catherine Turner, Executive Director, Common Cause Ohio. “How many older adults in Ohio have a printer at home? There are already robust verification methods; it is totally unnecessary to force Ohioans who do not have home-access to a copier to make a separate trip to the library or this absurd list of other state agencies to make a photocopy of their ID.”

“We must be clear, these are efforts aimed at blocking access to vote-by-mail, piece by piece, until it is no longer accessible for most Ohioans,” said Steve David, Ohio Director for All Voting Is Local. “This is part of a broader strategy to undermine the ability of everyday Americans to vote, which includes the President’s announcement last year that his office intended to ban vote-by-mail, something he is not constitutionally authorized to do. In their haste to blindly follow faulty executive action on voting rights, Ohio lawmakers are willing to continue chipping away at Ohioans’ freedom to vote, who want and deserve access to these voting methods.”

“Veterans, people with disabilities, rural Ohioans, seniors, and student voters are more likely to rely on absentee voting, but very few of us have the ability to make photocopies at our homes,” said Jen Miller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “ This is just another unnecessary, expensive, unfunded mandate for local county governments that will effectively take the voting access away from Ohio citizens who deserve to have their voices heard.”

"Voting by mail is a safe and secure method to cast a ballot. In fact, mail-in voting is the only method of voting where you must prove your identity twice before casting your ballot,” added Collin Marozzi, Advocacy Director of the ACLU of Ohio. “HB 577 does nothing to deter fraud. Instead, it will just make voting by mail inconvenient. Having a drivers' license is not a constitutional requirement for voting, but should HB 577 become law, Ohio will have a de facto drivers' license requirement for anyone trying to exercise their fundamental right to vote."

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The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition is a nonpartisan partnership of voter advocates dedicated to ensuring that our elections are modern, secure, and accessible to all Ohioans. We strongly believe that when we all have access to the ballot and make our voices heard, we create a democracy that is more just, equitable, inclusive, and reflective of the values we want to see in the world. The coalition’s steering committee includes ACLU Ohio, All Voting is Local, Common Cause Ohio, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, and Ohio Voice.