Ramaswamy, Ohio lawmakers want voter ID in state constitution, as Dem SOS candidate Russo dismisses it

Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as Ohio lawmakers, suggested that the Buckeye State should ensure only American citizens could vote by adding pro-voter ID laws to the state constitution.

“A voter ID requirement is common-sense & we should codify it in Ohio’s Constitution. Our legislature should give Ohioans a chance to vote on it this November,” Ramaswamy wrote on X.

A voter ID requirement is common-sense & we should codify it in Ohio’s Constitution. Our legislature should give Ohioans a chance to vote on it this November. If Washington D.C. can’t pass the SAVE America Act, Ohio should achieve its goals on our own terms. I lay out the case… https://t.co/VqsAeHYQsy

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 18, 2026

Ramaswamy admitted that Ohio only allows American citizens to vote, but added that that requirement is “fragile” because it is “captured only in the legislative code, and subject to the whims of state lawmakers, judges, and the political winds that blow them in.”

“To truly protect our voter identification laws, we must enshrine them in our state constitution,” he wrote in a Monday op-ed for The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Fortunately, We the People have both the power and the political will to do just that.”

Ramaswamy praised President Donald Trump for promoting the SAVE America Act, “which would prevent voter fraud and strengthen faith in America’s elections” by requiring voters to “present their government-issued photo ID before casting their ballot, just as millions of Americans are required to present photo ID before renting a car or flying on an airplane.”

“A constitutional requirement for photo ID to vote is common-sense and popular. Too often, this issue has been politicized in other contests, but Ohio has an opportunity to show America how it’s done − through decisive constitutional action adopted directly by voters, adopted in a unifying manner rather than through division,” he wrote in the op-ed.

Among Ohio Republicans supporting Ramaswamy’s idea are Secretary of State candidate Robert Sprague; former Secretary of State candidate Marcell Strbich; state Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville; state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery; and Ohio GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou.

Just hours after the op-ed was published, Ohio lawmakers introduced a constitutional amendment that would require Ohioans to show a photo ID proving they are American citizens to vote, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

The “resolution is about protecting election integrity and making sure Ohio voters feel completely confident about the voting process here in our state,” state Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, said, according to Cleveland.com.

State Rep. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, who is currently running to replace Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, called the amendment a political stunt since the state already requires an ID to vote, The Dispatch reported.

“Ohio’s voter ID laws are not under any threat, but the ability of Ohioans to hold their elected representatives accountable for inaction on real issues like affordability and rising costs is under assault,” she said.

LaRose’s official website lists documents that could be accepted at the polling places. Under Ohio law, “only a citizen of the United States, of the age of eighteen years, who has been a resident of the state, county, township, or ward, such time as may be provided by law, and has been registered to vote for thirty days, has the qualifications of an elector, and is entitled to vote at all elections.”

“No person who lacks those qualifications shall be permitted to vote at any state or local election held in this state. Any elector who fails to vote in at least one election during any period of four consecutive years shall cease to be an elector unless the elector again registers to vote,” the Ohio Constitution said.

Despite the law, Republican officials alleged that more than one thousand non-Americans were able to register to vote in Ohio’s elections, according to Fox News, Cleveland.com, and Statehouse News Bureau. The left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice alleged that noncitizen voting is “vanishingly rare.”