Youngstown Daily Legal News

Mailing ban of absentee voter ballots is sought

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: October 7, 2013

On the heels of introducing a bill into the Ohio General Assembly that would reduce the state’s number of absent voting days, Rep. John Becker has put forth another measure focused on elections.

House Bill 266 would generally prohibit any board of elections or other government agency from sending out or providing funding for unsolicited absentee voter applications.

“This piece of legislation would, however, continue to allow the Secretary of State’s office to do so,” said Becker, R-Cincinnati. “The purpose of this legislation is to apply a consistent statewide standard that is fair to all Ohio voters and taxpayers. Additionally, no county would be allowed to provide pre-paid postage.”

In addition to HB 266 and House Bill 250, the bill to slash absent voting from 35 days before an election to 17.

Becker is also sponsoring another proposal, House Bill 263, to set early voting hours for 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

HB 266 states that “neither the registrar of motor vehicles nor any deputy registrar and no board of elections ... vocational school or public library shall mail any unsolicited voter registration forms or unsolicited absent voter’s ballot applications or provide funds to a private entity for that purpose.”

All three bills have come under fire from the Ohio Fair Elections Network, a coalition of national, state and local fair elections advocates.

“HB 263 narrowly sets early voting hours ... and prohibits early voting on evenings and weekends,” an OFEN statement read. “HB 266, prohibits county boards of elections from using their own discretion to send absentee ballots to all registered voters in the county.”

Coalition officials went on to state that the provision in HB 266 that would ban public assistance agencies from sending unsolicited voter registration applications could be a violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

“Early voting is very popular in Ohio,” said Camille Wimbish of Ohio Voice.

“In the last weekend before the 2012 election, over 60,000 votes were cast across all counties. Why would Rep. Becker attempt to restrict the days and hours of early voting, when it will certainly make it more difficult for voters to have access to the ballot box?”

HB 266 states that the secretary of state may mail unsolicited voter registration forms or applications for absent voter’s ballots to individuals “provided that the forms or applications are mailed statewide.”

“The secretary of state shall not prepay the return postage for any solicited or unsolicited voter registration form (or) application for an absent voter’s ballot,” the bill reads.

According to the OFEN statement, Becker’s stance that the proposed cuts to early voting would result in cost savings is questionable.

The press release referenced Franklin County Board of Elections Member Zach Manifold stating that the “convenience and flexibility of early voting has allowed counties to save a tremendous amount of money through precinct consolidation.”

“This legislation will reverse those cost savings, as fewer people voting early will require more election staff, poll workers and voting machines on election day,” he said.

“Additionally, this legislation will force small counties that only needed part-time hours to meet the early voting demands of their voters, to spend significantly more taxpayer money to stay open full time.”

Norman Robbins of the Northeast Ohio Voter Advocates raised concerns about the impact of preventing public assistance agencies from mailing voter registration applications to low-income citizens.

“This prohibition only exacerbates the disparity between applicants at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, where applicants must refuse a pre-filled registration form, and low-income applicants for public assistance benefits, who must fill out a complete form, often in the middle of a family crisis,” he said.

“This bill would increase the number of costly provisional ballots by making changes-of-address more difficult for the very people who move the most. Not only does HB 266 send a harmful message that voting rights are not equal among Ohio’s poor but the bill likely violates federal law.”

HB 266 is co-sponsored by Reps. Matt Lynch, R-Chagrin Falls, and Ron Maag, R-Lebanon.

The bill has been assigned to the House Policy and Legislative Oversight committee.

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