Over a year ago, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 458 Jan. 6, 2023. The bill changed voter identification rules, shortened absentee ballot requests, changed curbside voting rules and moved early voting windows.
“Ohioans are clearly supportive of strict photo ID for voting, and we have found a common-sense way to make it happen that ensures voters are not disenfranchised,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a press release.
HB 458 restricts voting identification to only accepting Ohio-issued identification documents, such as a driver's license, passport or Ohio-issued military ID and can now send absentee ballots using the last four digits of their social security number.
According to Mary Nally, director of the Ohio University Center for Campus and Community Engagement, these new laws disenfranchise people and make voting more difficult.
Nally said she recommends students vote via absentee ballot, especially if the student is from out of state. Absentee will help prevent them from having to get an Ohio ID.
“Some of the potential consequences of an out-of-state student getting an Ohio driver's license or ID is that it may impact scholarships,” Nally said. “(Students would) have to re-register their car in the state now that their driver's license may be in the state, and it may even impact health insurance.”
Currently, over 500,000 out-of-state students are in Ohio, and over 4,475 of them are at OU. In addition, many other Ohioans may have already been disenfranchised, with over a million Ohioans having a suspended driver's license, according to Nally.
“(People) do not have a state ID for a variety of reasons,” Nally said. “Maybe someone lost their house or has recently lost their ID. There was a higher level of flexibility about identification previously, and now it's been substantially restricted to an Ohio state ID.”
Previously, polling locations also accepted utility bills with a person’s name and address, a bank statement, paycheck, government check and government or job document with a person’s social security number on it.
HB 458 also shortened the deadline to request an absentee ballot by four days and eliminated early voting on the last Monday before an election.
The Bill mandates an absentee ballot to be received by a board of election no longer than four days after the election and mailed not after the day of the election. Additionally, 458 shortens the timeline for the ballots to be cured.
Drop boxes have also been restricted. They must be bomb and fireproof, bolted to the ground, emptied by employees of both political parties and there can only be one per county.
Jen Miller is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. Miller said LWV is concerned about restrictions made on drop boxes.
“(The LWV) think there should be more of them, not less per county,” Miller said. “We think there should be more access to drop boxes, not less.”
HB 458 also made it illegal for family members to help disabled voters cast their ballots. A federal court struck down the restrictions in July, allowing a person with a disability to select a person of their choice to assist them with voting.
“Ohio has one of the most restricted voter ID laws in the country now,” Miller said. “The 2020 Election in Ohio was one of the most secure in the history of the state and the country. So tightening those voter ID laws did not seem necessary to us.”
OU and Student Senate are trying to help students vote and spread awareness of the new laws. OU has partnered with the university mail service to treat all absentee ballots as packages, making the absentee ballots more accessible, with campus package lockers being available 24/7.
In the Senate office, students can find absentee request forms, stamps and flyers on how to complete the forms and a box to turn the forms in.
Donald Theisen, Senate governmental affairs commissioner, said it is important, especially in this election, for people to know the laws.
“Whatever the law is regarding (voting), we still want (students) to know it right,” Theisen said. “The changes have been relatively recent, and we may be putting a little bit more effort into these things because there's a possibility that people haven't caught them.”
