Senate panel delays vote on election bill

An Ohio Senate committee delayed a vote Tuesday on a much- debated bill to finalize plans for the Nov. 3 general election, raising questions about whether initiatives to “safeguard” voting will be implemented in time.

“Election season is here. This represents probably the last opportunity to make some small changes we need to make sure Ohio is the best prepared state in the nation,” Secretary of State Frank Larose told the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. He said he expects record voter turnout in November.

“The timing is important. If this bill isn’t passed and to the governor’s desk in a matter of a couple of weeks then we have gone past the effective deadline and it wouldn’t be helpful for this November.”

Committee Chairman Bill Coley said House Bill 680 will undergo further review and be considered at the panel’s next meeting. The Senate is next scheduled to meet in August.

The bill would allow Larose to send absentee ballot requests to the nearly 8 million registered voters and shortens by four days the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot — from the Saturday before the election to the Tuesday before the election.

It also bans any public official from changing the date of the Nov. 3 election and prohibits Larose from prepaying postage on absentee ballot applications or the ballots themselves.the legislation by Rep. Cindy Abrams, R-harrison, passed the House in June.

“This legislation will safeguard Ohio’s elections, ensuring every Ohioan will know how our elections will be run, how they can vote and, most importantly, that their vote will count,”

Abrams told committee members.

The earlier deadline for requesting an absentee ballot, she said, aims to ensure that ballots can be received before the election and returned in time to be counted.

Democrats and voter-rights groups opposed to the bill said it doesn’t do enough to make voting easier during the coronavirus outbreak, when more people likely will want to vote absentee. They want to allow online ballot requests, paid postage for absentee ballots and additional ballot drop-off sites.

“House Bill 680 purposely makes it more difficult for Ohioans to vote,” Gary Daniels, lobbyist for the ACLU of Ohio, testified.

“In this crisis, with continuing infections and deaths, no vaccine, and asymptomatic spread, COVID-19 must be paramount in all of our minds when discussing at least the November 2020 election. What Ohio must avoid is a repeat of this year’s primary elections or anything resembling that chaotic and confusing period.”

Larose supports the legislation, saying that “moving (the) illogical threeday deadline” is a top priority to ensure ballots “can be cast and counted … three days before the election is too late to request an absentee ballot.”

He said Ohio “has a really good system,” but acknowledged that he would prefer that it include the additional improvements.

Specifically, he urged lawmakers to support online applications for absentee ballots and prepaid postage on ballots.

“I’d love to see them, but let’s not confuse things. What’s in this bill that fixes that problem with three days to seven days, that’s very important and I want to see that get done.” ccandisky@dispatch.com @ccandisky