East Stark News

The Ohio Legislature filed but did not advance legislation focused on election reforms last year.

State Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Township) did not respond to an East Stark News request for comment on whether similar legislation will pass this year.

Stoltzfus represents the 50th Legislative District of Ohio. He was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2018, according to his state biography.

Ken Cuccinelli, Election Transparency Initiative (ETI) chairman, told the Buckeye Reporter that the Ohio State Legislature needs to pass election reforms in 2022, including a ban on ballot drop boxes and the practice of mass-mailing absentee ballot applications to voters who didn’t request them.

“That the Ohio Legislature and its governor were unable to come together in 2021 to pass many of the reforms badly needed to ensure secure, transparent and accountable Ohio elections wasn’t just disappointing — and downright unacceptable — but it was a profound disservice to so many other states who leaned bravely into the headwinds of resistance determined to thwart election integrity," Cuccinelli said. "Without delay, we urge the House and Senate to act on legislation to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in Ohio elections."

An analysis for the previously filed Election Security and Modernization Act (House Bill 294) stated that the legislation would make several changes and reforms to the state’s election laws. The bill sought to automate the voter registration and verification system through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, as well as modify the process for voter roll maintenance. This was in addition to several other changes and clarifications related to voter identification, curbside voting, absentee voting and election administration. The bill failed to advance out of committee.  

House Bill 387 aimed to add a photo ID requirement for voting, along with reforms to the absentee vote-by-mail process. This bill also failed to advance from the House Government Oversight Committee.

Ohio state law allows any absentee ballot postmarked no later than the day before the election to be received up to 10 days after Election Day, a practice the ETI believes should be limited to only late-arriving ballots from military members and overseas citizens from Ohio.    

In 2020, nonprofit groups supporting President Joe Biden tried to expand ballot drop box access in key Democratic strongholds, including Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, according to NBC News. Their move was opposed by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who said the boxes would not be secure.       

Ohio state law allows mass-mailing of absentee ballot applications by political groups, while states including Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky have banned the practice. In 2020, a group calling itself the Center for Voter Information mailed absentee ballot applications to thousands of Ohioans who did not request them, according to a report by ABC 6. One Columbus voter reported her roommate received two separate ballot applications, both addressed to his son, who had not lived in the home for seven years.