Dems want DeWine to veto bill that requires absentee ballots to be counted by end of Election Day

Ohio House Democrats sent a letter to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine requesting a full veto of Senate Bill 293, which they allege is anti-voter because it “imposes unnecessary hurdles on voters, shortens the time Ohioans have to make their voices heard and weakens essential accountability measures.”

“SB 293 is a hurried, ill-considered change to Ohio voting law that needlessly adds new administrative barriers and will make it harder for thousands of Ohioans to have their ballots counted,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote in the letter.

Additionally, the lawmakers wrote in a press release that “eliminating the four-day grace period and expanding mechanisms for questioning someone’s voter registration will disproportionately harm older, disabled, working and transportation-limited voters, denying some Ohioans their voice and potentially altering election outcomes.”

“A veto of this reckless legislation is squarely in the public interest,” House Democrats said.

The bill, which both the House and the Senate passed, was sponsored by state Sens. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, and Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green.

“Election day is election day for a reason,” Gavarone said. “Allowing ballots to be delivered days after the election does nothing but hurt the integrity and credibility of our elections.”

According to the Republican lawmakers, the bill would require all mail-in absentee ballots to be delivered to the board of elections by the time polls close on Election Day.

“I am proud to team up with Senator Gavarone to sponsor this legislation,” Brenner said. “This legislation will ensure that Ohio is abiding by Federal election law and President Trump’s executive order.”

House Democrats were not the only people who opposed the bill. Ohio.News previously reported that Ohio voting rights advocates, VoteRiders, also urged DeWine to veto the bill.

The group’s legal director, Ceridwen Cherry, said that rooting out “suspected noncitizen voters is a solution in search of a problem,” adding that the bill “does not give incorrectly flagged eligible U.S. citizens a chance to prove their citizenship.”

“Instead, they would be purged from voter rolls without warning or recourse,” Cherry said.

The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, which includes the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, and the ACLU of Ohio, also urged DeWine to “veto this anti-democratic bill immediately, stand by his word and reaffirm his commitment to Ohio voters.”

The group criticized the bill for “needlessly eliminating the post-election window” and imposing audits “that will drastically increase the number of provisional ballots.”