House to consider measure to bolster Election Integrity Unit

In signing the Buckeye State’s biennial budget earlier this year, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine partially vetoed a provision creating a new Election Integrity Unit.

While the unit, which prosecutes election law violations, such as election fraud and voter suppression, was codified, the governor vetoed a provision requiring local prosecutors to decide within a year whether to act on possible violations. If they didn’t prosecute within the timeframe, the Election Integrity Unit could refer the cases to the Attorney General’s Office.

“Having criminal matters promptly investigated and prosecutorial decisions timely made are very worthy goals,” DeWine said in his veto message. “However, this item as drafted potentially requires prosecutors to act outside their ethical obligations as they are given a limited time to collect the minimum standard of evidence to determine whether to pursue cases.

“This could have unintended consequences of prosecuting individuals without evidence to prove a crime beyond reasonable doubt,” the governor added. “Additionally, this provision allows the Unit to refer cases to the Attorney General if the local prosecuting authority declines to prosecute the alleged violation. This could potentially create forum shopping and undermine the public’s confidence in the justice system.”

While it was included in the state’s budget, the state Senate in June also passed Senate Bill 4, which similarly established an Election Integrity Unit. Now, in the wake of DeWine’s veto, SB 4 is back before the state House.

In sponsored testimony, Senate Majority Floor Leader Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, the bill’s sponsor, said that Ohio has “a sterling reputation” for its elections. However, she added that “it cannot be disputed that voter fraud is real.”

“It happens. Some people seem to have the opinion that a little bit of voter fraud is fine or just the cost of doing business. Not me,” Gavarone said. “One case of voter fraud is too much and I believe the Election Integrity Unit will make it easier to not just prevent it, but prosecute people who try to undermine our elections systems and, by definition, our Republic.”

As proposed in SB 4, the Election Integrity Unit would investigate election fraud and voter suppression allegations, allow the public to submit complaints, refer cases to prosecutors, law enforcement, or other state or federal agencies for review, Gavarone said in sponsor testimony. They must also submit a report to state lawmakers detailing the number of complaints and the number of people referred for investigation.

Within one year, a county prosecutor would be required to prosecute the violation, request additional information, or decline to prosecute. Under this bill, if the county prosecutor does not act on cases referred by the Election Integrity Unit, the state’s attorney general may proceed with prosecution.

“If a county prosecutor declines to prosecute, then the election integrity unit may refer the case to the Attorney General for further investigation,” Gavarone said. “Alternatively, the prosecutor could request additional information on the alleged violation from the election integrity unit, who would then have 90 days to respond.

“If additional information is sent, the prosecutor would then have 180 days to prosecute or decline to prosecute,” Gavarone added. “If it is declined, the Election Integrity Unit may refer the case to the Attorney General. In total, this would give county prosecutors up to 21 months to decide if they want to prosecute or not.”

Unsurprisingly, liberal groups, like Common Cause Ohio, have testified against the measure. In prepared testimony, Mia Lewis, associate director of Common Cause Ohio, told members of the Senate General Government Committee in June that lawmakers should instead “focus on efforts that increase election access and security, such as investing in resources for local election officials and educating voters on election processes and their rights.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Gavarone and state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, announced that they introduced a separate elections-related measure. Senate Bill 293, which has been assigned to the Senate General Government Committee, would require that all mail-in absentee ballots be delivered to the board of elections by poll closing on Election Day.