The Honorable Richard Michael DeWine
Governor of Ohio
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 34215-6117
Dear Governor DeWine:
In a matter of days, House Bill (HB) 458 was amended in the Ohio Senate from simply regarding August special elections to instead a sweeping anti-voter bill that massively changes how elections are administered and how Ohioans can access their most fundamental American right. To add insult to injury, the bill was passed by the Ohio House in the dark of night at nearly 1am without a single committee hearing or opportunity for public testimony—decidedly not how a piece of legislation should come together in any robust or healthy democracy.
But it was not just the process by which the bill was ultimately passed that concerns us; because of its negative impacts we believe House Bill (HB) 458 will have on Ohioans and their right to vote, the 19 undersigned Ohio advocacy organizations ask that you veto this bill. Simply put, if enacted, HB 458 will make it harder for certain people to vote, disenfranchising thousands of Ohioans, especially the elderly, disabled Ohioans, students, active service members, and people of color.
HB 458 implements some of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation, violating the voting rights of thousands of Ohioans and effectively codifying a poll tax by requiring voters incur a cost in order to vote. The bill is full of dangerous provisions that will expand existing discriminatory barriers to the ballot box. Specifically, House Bill 458 includes the following concerning provisions:
Eliminates the use of utility bills and bank statements as a valid form of ID, putting at risk the nearly 800,000 Ohioans who do not currently have the requisite type of photo ID;
Eliminates Monday as an early voting day, a day used by thousands of Ohioans each year to vote;
Shortens the deadlines for submitting absentee ballots and the days after the election when such ballots can be received, a provision that will disproportionately impact overseas and military voters;
Limits absentee dropboxes to only one dropbox per county, regardless how many people live in the county and only available for use when the Board of Elections is open for early voting hours;
Eliminates access to curbside voting for voters who need it; and
Targets noncitizens by requiring citizenship status on IDs, subjecting them to potential harassment.
Sponsors and supporters of this dangerous legislation claim that it is necessary to ensure the integrity of our elections, but fail to mention that there are zero proven incidences of identity voter fraud in Ohio. In short, this bill is a solution in search of a problem that does not exist. Our state’s own chief elections officer, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, rightfully confirmed this as recently as last month after the November election.
Instead, the aforementioned provisions, and more, will directly disenfranchise thousands of Ohio voters. HB 458 may, in fact, violate federal election law, subjecting the State of Ohio to litigation over this legislation if enacted.
To protect the right of all Ohioans to vote and for all eligible voters, especially those voters in difficult circumstances, to have an equitably accessible path to the ballot box, you must VETO HB 458. It is the right thing to do, both for the people of Ohio and for our democracy.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Tavenor, Managing Director of Democracy Policy
Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund
Molly Shack, Co-Executive Director
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Desiree Tims, President & CEO
Innovation Ohio
Pierrette M. Talley, Convener
Ohio Coalition on Black Civic Participation
Emily Cole, Executive Director
Ohio Families Unite for Political Action and Change
Elaine Schleiffer, Co-Founder
REACH
Jona Hilario, Statewide Co-Director
OPAWL - Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
Pastor Hank Osmundson, Executive Director
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio
Rev. Raymond Greene, Executive Director
Freedom Righteous Organizing Collaborative
Amy Fogel, Deputy Program Director
Red Wine and Blue
Hannah Halbert, Executive Director
Policy Matters Ohio
Rachael Collyer, Program Director
Ohio Student Association
Amina Barhumi, Executive Director
CAIR-Ohio
Julie Mulroy, Co-Lead
Indivisible Central Ohio East
Hannah Ware
The National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter
Denny Wojtanowski
LEAD Ohio
Susan Reis, Ohio State Policy Advocate
National Council of Jewish Women
Ambur Smith, Managing Director
The Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network
Voting-Matters