Ohio is latest state to see GOP-backed voting law rewrite
By Julie Carr Smyth - Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio became the latest state Thursday where Republicans are proposing a significant rewrite of state election laws, an effort that comes despite sweeping GOP victories in the state last year and a smooth election.
Legislation introduced in the Ohio House calls for prohibiting placement of ballot drop boxes anywhere but at a local elections office, eliminating a day of early voting, shortening the window for requesting mail-in ballots and tightening voter ID requirements all restrictions the House Democratic leader has criticized as “modern Jim Crow laws” targeted at disenfranchising voters of color.
Statehouse News Bureau
Voters cast ballots at the Franklin County Board of Elections March 15, 2020. Two days later, the polls were closed for the primary statewide because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and all voting was done by mail.
A bill that would put changes and restrictions on Ohio laws related to early voting, ballot drop boxes and other election laws has finally been introduced, after weeks of speculation.
The bill from Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) would limit counties to one ballot drop box for 10 days before the election and cut off absentee ballot requests 10 days before. It would also require two forms of ID to request an absentee ballot in an online request process and would eliminate in-person voting the day before the election, though those hours could be reallocated to other days.
May 7, 2021
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio became the latest state Thursday where Republicans are proposing a significant rewrite of state election laws, an effort that comes despite sweeping GOP victories in the state last year and a smooth election.
Legislation introduced in the Ohio House calls for prohibiting placement of ballot drop boxes anywhere but at a local elections office, eliminating a day of early voting, shortening the window for requesting mail-in ballots and tightening voter ID requirements all restrictions the House Democratic leader has criticized as “modern Jim Crow laws” targeted at disenfranchising voters of color.
The bill also would add some conveniences to elections, however, including an online absentee ballot request system long sought by voting rights advocates state and automated voter registration through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
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While Republicans say Ohio s voting laws are already good and this will improve them, Democrats say it will lead to voter suppression.
The bill from Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) would limit counties to one ballot drop box for 10 days before the election and cut off absentee ballot requests 10 days before. It would also require two forms of ID to request an absentee ballot in an online request process, and would eliminate in-person voting the day before the election, though those hours could be reallocated to other days.
Seitz had harsh words for Democrats in Ohio and in other states who oppose these kinds of moves.
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Fri. 10:02 a.m.: Texas voting restriction bill passes key House vote; Ohio is latest state to see GOP-backed voting law rewrite
May 7, 2021
Gerald Welty sits in the House Chamber Thursday at the Texas Capitol as he waits to hear debate on voter legislation in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Republican lawmakers advanced a sweeping elections bill early this morning following hours of discussion that would put America’s biggest red state closer to imposing a raft of new voting restrictions in the face of growing warning from corporations.
The key vote at 3 a.m. in the Texas House followed hours of debate as Democrats, who had little means of stopping the bill in the GOP-controlled state Capitol, deployed technical challenges and hours of questioning that the bill’s author, Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain, appeared unprepared at times to answer. Finally, an agreement was reached between Republicans and Democrats leaving the bill with 20 amend