Ohio Republicans unveil proposals to amend the electoral law, including new Dropbox and early voting rules from Statehouse News Bureau

Ohio has joined the list of states where Republicans want to make changes to electoral law after the 2020 election – with a bill that appeals to both parties, although some Democrats have spoken out against it.

In asking fellow elected officials to help sponsor his bill, Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) wrote that he was not challenging the election of President Joe Biden. Seitz said Donald Trump won Ohio by eight points in “a fair and fraud-free count”.

But Seitz wrote that his bill would make Ohio elections safer.

He proposes online absentee voting and moves the application deadline from the Saturday before the election to 10 days before the election. The county’s electoral and voting representatives had urged voters to request postal votes early last year because of concerns about a slowdown in the US postal service and voters had responded in record numbers.

But the bill would also limit ballot boxes to one per district while the Democrats wanted to expand them, and ballot boxes would only be available 10 days before the election.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said last year he would like to install more if he had the opportunity to do so without legislature approval. Then he told the counties they couldn’t add them. A lawsuit was filed but dropped. Currently, LaRose’s policy is to only allow one Dropbox per county.

Seitz’s bill would also cut the face-to-face vote the day before the election, although those hours can be scheduled on a different day. The district’s electoral boards have suggested allowing more time to prepare for the masses on election day.

It would also allow for automatic voter registration by the Automobile Bureau, rather than having all adults automatically registered to vote what the Democrats wanted. LaRose advocated a system that will register voters with the BMV not long after his election in 2018.

Progressive groups said they received an earlier version of the bill that completely bans Dropboxing and requires two types of badges for in-person early voting.

Liz Walters, leader of the Ohio Democratic Party, blown the proposal in a statement that said in part: “In a state that has set the bar for extreme laws against voters, this proposal is actively taking steps to help Ohio in.” Struggle to bring back access to further. ” the voting booth. “

Chairman @lizmwalters on GOP Voter Regression Legislation to be launched soon:

“While Georgia’s electoral law was being passed nationwide, Ohio Republicans used that law as a starting point and worked backwards from there.”

More: https: //t.co/F4rRZ8M1LI – Ohio Dems (@OHDems) April 23, 2021