Ohio is latest state to see GOP-backed significant voting law rewrite

COLUMBUS >> Ohio became the latest state Thursday where Republicans are proposing a significant rewrite of state election laws, an effort that comes despite sweeping GOP victories in the state last year and a smooth election.

Legislation introduced in the Ohio House calls for prohibiting placement of ballot drop boxes anywhere but at a local elections office, eliminating a day of early voting, shortening the window for requesting mail-in ballots and tightening voter ID requirements — all restrictions the House Democratic leader has criticized as “modern Jim Crow laws” targeted at disenfranchising voters of color.

The bill also would add some conveniences to elections, however, including an online absentee ballot request system long sought by voting rights advocates state and automated voter registration through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

The Ohio Senate is drafting its own election reform bill, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman told reporters Wednesday — acknowledging pushback against the House version.

“People say that’s voter suppression, and I know we’re never going to get past that line of public comment,” he said.

“But I think it’s important that when we have a bipartisan group coming to you to say, ‘We can run our elections better if we make this change,’ the legislature needs to take that seriously.”

The bill’s author and cosponsor, Republican state Rep. Bill Seitz, has said the sweeping overhaul isn’t an effort to suppress voters, but a thoughtful effort to incorporate changes long sought by Democrats, Republicans, election officials and voter advocates.