DeWine vetoes bill to require voter ID for voting by mail, Senate President Rob McColley slams move
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have required voters to furnish a photo ID to vote by mail starting with the November 2027 general election.
House Bill 472, sponsored by state Rep. Jodi Salvo, R-Bolivar, also mandates the secretary of state to establish a secure online portal for voters to apply for absentee ballots. It further outlines the procedures county boards of elections must follow for voters who request an absentee ballot through a method other than the SOS portal.
In a veto message, DeWine said that the legislation is “all burden for so little benefit” and that his veto “is in the public interest.”
The bill “would not discourage fraud, would not add any real security, and would create an additional and significant burden for Ohioans who vote by mail,” DeWine said. “…This bill is not needed, because Ohio does an excellent job running elections.
“…And so, while on paper, one can make the case that there is a pathway for absentee voters to overcome the hurdles to voting that this bill creates, if the net result is that a number of voters will be deterred from making the attempt to vote, that result is hurtful — not helpful — to our efforts to include all of our citizens in the most basic act that involves them in our democratic process,” the governor added. “The provision in H.B. 472 that allows for online absentee ballot applications is much needed, and I commend the Legislature for passing it. It is unfortunate that it is in a bill that I must veto.”
Separately, in November, Ohio voters will decide on a proposed constitutional amendment requiring voters to show a photo ID to vote in person. While Ohio law currently requires voters to present a photo ID when voting, the requirement is not enshrined in the state constitution.
According to Ballotpedia, the proposed amendment would also require absentee voters to provide a photo ID, or a signature plus another “unique identifier.” It includes a carve-out for voters with a “sincere religious objection” to their picture being taken.
Some Buckeye State Democrats had called on DeWine to veto the measure and lauded his decision. However, the move drew the ire of the Senate’s top Republican.
“Photo ID laws are supported by a vast majority of Ohio voters,” Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, who is running for lieutenant governor alongside Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, said in a statement.
“It is disappointing the governor would oppose such a common sense election security bill when Democrat controlled states such as Virginia and Hawaii have repealed their photo ID laws,” McColley added. “HB 472 when combined with this fall’s Constitutional Amendment requiring photo identification to vote would have given Ohioans the confidence to know that their election system was the most secure in the country.”
Gov DeWine vetoing HB 472, a bill requiring photo ID to vote by mail is a blessing in disguise considering it doesn’t address “real security concerns” and opened up several unverifiable exception categories.
The legislature needs to do something BIGGER after the election. pic.twitter.com/glN9X8Cu1A
— Marcell Strbich (@marcellstrbich) June 25, 2026
Ohio lawmakers could override the veto, but would need to do so by the end of the year, when the session ends.
