COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state Attorney General’s Office has rejected summary language for a proposed ballot measure seeking to expand Ohio’s ballot access laws.
In letter to Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, the group backing the amendment, Attorney General Dave Yost said the group’s proposed ballot language wasn’t an accurate summary of their amendment. The group had submitted their proposed amendment, which they hope to place on the November ballot, to the state on Jan. 22.
Specifically, Yost said his office rejected the summary for two reasons. One, because the summary language was longer than the amendment itself. And two, the summary included a paragraph describing acceptable forms of ID that a voter could present at a polling place that wasn’t included in the amendment.
“For these reasons, I am unable to certify the proposal,” said in the letter rejecting the petition.
Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections now will have to modify their summary language and re-submit it to Yost’s office. They also will have to collect a new batch of 1,000 signatures from registered Ohio voters.
In a statement, J. Bennett Guess, Executive Director for the ACLU of Ohio, said the campaign will re-submit ballot language before the deadline to make the November ballot.
“This is standard practice in Ohio on the path to qualify for the ballot. We remain committed to protecting and ensuring the right to vote for all eligible Ohioans, and we will be refiling the initiative before the deadline," he said.
If and when the measure is approved, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections would have to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures from registered voters around the state.
The amendment would automatically register to vote or update the voter registration of anyone visiting the BMV for a driver’s license or other state-issued ID.
It also would allow people to cast a ballot the same day they register to vote during a mandated early-voting period beginning 28 days before any election.
The issue campaign is backed by the ACLU. This week, the group announced the NAACP and the Philip A. Randolph Institute, a voter-rights advocacy group, had endorsed the measure.
The proposed Ohio measure is similar to a constitutional amendment, also backed by the ACLU, that was overwhelmingly approved by Michigan voters in 2018.
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