Gov. John Kasich signed into law Friday changes to Ohio’s election rules on early voting and handling of absentee ballot applications.
The administration announced the bill signings with little comment. The bills would take effect in time for the November election.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols noted that the changes to absentee voting rules will make them more uniform, and that Ohio’s early voting period is longer than most states.
“Ohio has more early voting than 40 other states after we signed these bills,” Nichols said.
The bills, hotly contested by Democrats, cleared the General Assembly Wednesday after heated debate. Democrats said the changes will make it harder for people to vote and lead to more absentee ballots being discarded due technical errors. They warned that the people most affected by the changes are those in urban populations, populations that tend to vote Democratic.
Rep. Chris Redfern of Catawba Island, who also is chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, promised his party would sue to stop the bills from taking effect.
The changes were contained in two bills that originated in the Ohio Senate. One bill, introduced by Sen. Frank LaRose, a Republican from Copley, eliminates the so-called “Golden Week,” a period at the beginning of early voting when people can both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot.
The Ohio Association of Election Officials recommended the five-day period be scrapped to create a clean break between when voters can register and when they can cast ballots. Democrats and voter rights advocates said reducing early voting days would disenfranchise voters and lead to longer lines at the polls. They also questioned the urgency and motive behind passing the bills.
Lawmakers supporting the bill argued the change was a common-sense move and noted that Democrat Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner also had favored eliminating Golden Week.
The other bill, introduced by Sen. Bill Coley, a Republican from Butler County, prohibits individual county boards of election from sending out unsolicited absentee ballot applications.
The bill allows the Ohio secretary of state to send them out, statewide, if lawmakers appropriate money to pay for it. Republicans said voters are not treated equally because some county boards of election choose to send out applications and pay for return postage on absentee ballots and ballot applications.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, Kasich’s likely opponent in the November election, had said in a statement the county would also consider taking legal action if the bills became law.
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