Ohio House of Representatives Hears Testimony on Election Reform Bill
Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 3
November 30, 2009
OHIO – The Ohio General Assembly is considering an election reform bill, Amended Substitute House Bill 260 (Am. Sub. H.B. 260), which would reduce the misuse and overuse of provisional ballots.
On Nov. 18, the Ohio House passed the bill and it is currently being considered in the Ohio Senate.
Last month, Advancement Project Staff Attorney Donita Judge offered testimony before the Ohio House of Representatives Committee on Elections and Ethics about problems with Ohio’s administration of provisional ballots following an invitation from the bill’s co-sponsor, State Rep. Dan Stewart (D-Columbus). She also expressed support for H.B. 260.
Judge, who serves as Advancement Project’s lead attorney in Ohio, told legislators that the state’s complex provisional ballot rules have “consistently resulted in misuse and overuse of provisional ballots.”
Advancement Project has been monitoring federal elections in Ohio and the administration of provisional ballots since 2004 and working with community partners, election officials and elected officials to probe problems associated with their use.
In her testimony, Judge told legislators that although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 was intended to keep voters from being disenfranchised when their names do not appear on precinct registers, Ohio’s provisional ballot rules unnecessarily disenfranchise many voters. Ohio’s provisional ballot rules, she said, are some of the most complex in the country and have often resulted in poll-worker error.
Judge testified that the state’s change-of-address rule—which requires Ohio voters to cast a provisional ballot if they have not updated their address with election officials--has caused more than 125,000 provisional ballots to be cast statewide in every federal election since 2004. Failing to update one’s address in advance of Election Day is the most common reason for issuing provisional ballots.
In the 2008 general election, some 207,000 provisional ballots were cast in Ohio and 40,000 were rejected.
H.B. 260 would allow Ohio voters to update their address at the polls on Election Day and vote by regular ballot after providing valid identification, completing a change of address form and appearing at the correct polling place.
Judge told legislators that H.B. 260 would simplify Ohio’s provisional ballot rules—reducing the reasons for the issuance of provisional ballots from 14 to four, alleviating poll worker confusion that unnecessarily disenfranchises voters.
The bill, if passed, would also end the wrong-precinct rule--under which provisional ballots are rejected when cast in the incorrect precinct--as long as the voter casts the provisional ballot in the Ohio county in which the voter is registered.
Judge testified that Advancement Project’s research shows that, in many instances, voters cast ballots in the correct polling place but in the wrong precinct and were thus disenfranchised because under Ohio law such ballots are automatically rejected.
H.B. 260 would allow ballots cast in the wrong precinct to be partially counted for races in which the voter is eligible to vote. In the 2008 general election, 14,335 provisional ballots were totally rejected because voters cast ballots in the wrong precinct.
In a recent interview, Judge said: “If H.B. 260 were passed into law, Ohio would broaden the participation of eligible voters, which is truly a great thing for democracy.”
Advancement Project’s testimony before the Ohio House follows its participation in two summits organized by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner last winter and spring. At both summits, Judge was invited to offer recommendations on the use of provisional ballots in Ohio, which shaped the bill.
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