State Rep. Alicia Reece and other activists are mobilizing a campaign to get a “Voter Bill of Rights” on the Ohio ballot this November.
If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would, among other changes, preserve the 35-day early voting period, expand early voting hours, allow voters to cast a provisional ballot anywhere in a given county and advance online voter registration.
But before it ends up on the ballot, supporters will need to gather 1,000 petition signatures to get the initiative in front of the attorney general and collect 385,247 total signatures by July 2 to file the petition to the secretary of state.
The Democrat-backed amendment is in direct response to attempts by Republicans, including Secretary of State Jon Husted and Gov. John Kasich, to shorten Ohio’s early voting period and restrict access to the ballot.
A bill currently working through the Ohio legislature would trim the early voting period from 35 to 29 days and end the “Golden Week” in which voters can register to vote and file a ballot on the same day. It’s expected Kasich and Republican legislators will approve the bill.
Republicans say the limits are supposed to prevent voter fraud and establish uniform voting standards across the state. Otherwise, some counties might establish longer early voting hours than others.
But some Republicans acknowledge that restrictions on early voting could suppress constituents that typically elect Democrats, obviously to Republicans’ advantage.
“I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine,” wrote Doug Preisse, close adviser to Kasich, in a 2012 email to The Columbus Dispatch.
