A Republican-proposed bill in the Ohio legislature is
drawing criticism from voting rights advocates
because they say it would unnecessarily limit absentee voting. The bill would permit the secretary of state to send out absentee-ballot applications on even years, when gubernatorial and presidential elections are held, only if the legislature funds the mailings, and it would prevent county election boards from mailing out additional ballot applications beyond what the state sends out. Previously, some counties mailed unsolicited ballot applications to all voters to potentially reduce lines on Election Day. Voting rights advocates say the bill will dampen and reduce voter participation, but State Sen. Bill Coley, the bill’s sponsor, argues it’s necessary to bring uniformity to county-by-county absentee voting.
A nine-member panel of criminal justice officials on Friday
recommended limiting access and improving oversight
of Ohio’s controversial facial recognition program, following a two-month review of the system and public criticisms over the program’s secrecy and alleged lack of oversight. The facial recognition program, which is part of a state database of criminal justice records known as the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG), was live for more than two months and 2,677 searches before Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine formally announced its existence in August. The program allows police officers and civilian employees to use a photo to search databases for names and contact information; previously, law enforcement officials needed a name or address to search such databases.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Ky. Gov. Steve Beshear
debated Obamacare
on Sunday’s Meet the Press. Beshear pointed to his state’s successful rollout of
Kynect
, a Kentucky-operated online marketplace for state-based health insurance plans. The Kentucky marketplace has already enrolled 26,000 Kentuckians, although 21,000 are Medicaid enrollees. Meanwhile, Kasich criticized the rocky launch of the federal portal
HealthCare.gov
, which only applies to states, like Ohio, that declined to run their own online marketplaces. The federal portal
has been practically unworkable
for a huge majority of Americans since it launched on Oct. 1. Kasich also claimed Obamacare will increase health insurance costs in Ohio — a claim that
goes against
findings in a national premium model developed by Avik Roy, a conservative health care expert who is typically critical of Obamacare.
CityBeat covered Obamacare’s Ohio rollout in further detail
here
.
Councilwoman Yvette Simpson is
questioning why WCPO used a man named Jim Kiefer as a source
after he posted racist insults aimed at her on social media. WCPO quoted Kiefer in a story as a John Cranley supporter, but the Cranley campaign quickly distanced itself from Kiefer upon learning of his history of bigoted posts on his Facebook wall, which was public at the time but is now private. Kiefer told
CityBeat the posts were supposed to be jokes.
looks like the most expensive
since Cincinnati began directly electing its mayors in 2001.
City Council could move forward with a plan next month to
reduce the noise freight trains make overnight
.
were the most popular names
in Cincinnati in 2012.
dipped this week
after two straight weeks of increases.
The furthest confirmed galaxy shows off light from just 700 million years after the Big Bang
.
Early voting is now underway. Find your voting location
here
. Normal voting hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days are extended. Check out
CityBeat ’s coverage and endorsements for the 2013 election
here
.
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This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2013.