Ohio GOP elections bill would offer reduced days for ballot drop boxes, allow online absentee requests

Election Day in northeast Ohio, November 3, 2020

Voters line up outside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, November 3, 2020, to cast their vote on Election Day. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)John Kuntz, cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new Republican-backed Ohio elections bill would set limits on the drop boxes in which voters can leave completed absentee ballots, including making them available for 20 fewer days compared to the November election, while also eliminating early, in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day.

The bill also would allow Ohioans to apply for absentee ballots online, offering a new alternative to the existing paper form, and permit them to update their voter registration status when they visit the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This would register as “voter activity,” resetting the clock on the process through which a voter can be purged for inactivity.

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