‘Significant burden’: Ohio governor vetoes GOP-backed mail voting restrictions

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have implemented new mail voting restrictions, arguing the measure was not necessary and would have proved too burdensome for voters.

“(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 in a statement, adding that the new system wasn’t needed because Ohio elections are already secure.

Voting advocates had urged DeWine to veto the legislation, arguing it would make it harder for Ohioans to vote and create privacy and identity theft risks.

The bill would have required the Ohio Secretary of State’s office to create an online portal and new procedures for voters to submit applications for absentee ballots. In particular, voters would need to verify their identity by either submitting a photo ID to the online portal or sending a copy of their ID in the mail. Any voter who could not provide the photo ID when applying would need to enclose a copy of their ID in the absentee ballot’s return envelope or present it when delivering the ballot in person.

Voting advocates said this would put large numbers of copies of IDs into circulation, increasing the risk that they could fall into the wrong hands and be used for illicit purposes.

DeWine appears to have agreed. Ultimately, he concluded the measure did not make sense.

“(R)equiring the photo ID for the mail-in ballot process does not provide election officials with any opportunity to verify if the ID picture matches the face of the voter and thereby serves as no additional verification of the voter’s true identity,” he said.

DeWine said that the bill would not only discourage voter participation, but also require the state to make expensive changes without allocating any additional funding for implementation.

“(I)f 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,” DeWine said.

An earlier bipartisan version of the bill would have made it easier for unhoused Ohioans to obtain ID documents. But this month, Republican lawmakers made last-minute changes adding unrelated restrictions for absentee voting.

Collin Marozzi, advocacy director of the ACLU of Ohio, applauded DeWine’s veto, commending the governor for “taking bold action to protect our state’s mail-in ballot process and Ohioans’ right to privacy.”  

“This legislation was an unfounded and unnecessary attack on absentee voting, brazenly rushed through the Ohio General Assembly at the 11th hour,” Marozzi said in a statement.