Ohio’s Absentee Ballot Directive: There Is No Excuse For Making It Harder To Vote

Photo illustration of an absentee voter mail-in ballot. | Source: SAUL LOEB / Getty

There is never justification for making it harder for eligible citizens to vote, yet that is exactly what some officials in Ohio are doing.

I’ve been on the frontlines of voting rights work for decades. And yet, I am continuously amazed at how those tasked with providing a fair and smooth election experience, create obstacles to the ballot. Rather than ensuring that all eligible voters can cast a ballot, these officials erect one roadblock after another.

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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s latest directive, which requires those who are eligible to drop off absentee ballots to go through extra hoops to do so, conveys an innate suspicion of Ohio voters. When voters select absentee ballots, it is often because they are working, traveling, unable to leave the house, elderly or experiencing a health challenge that limits their mobility. This directive demonstrates that our election officials are out of touch with the lived experiences of Ohioans who request and need absentee ballots.

I will be the first to tell you that we all want to safeguard our elections. But we must also protect Ohioans’ access to the ballot. By creating barriers, purportedly to keep out “bad actors” (who statistically may as well be ghosts), Ohio officials will bar some people who are entitled to vote. Voting is the lynchpin of a free society, and making it harder to vote is antithetical to a well-functioning democracy.

Discarded envelopes from counted absentee ballots are piled on the final day of early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections on November 7, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. | Source: Andrew Spear / Getty

It should go without saying, but Ohio Voters are tired of being accused of wrongdoing. According to LaRose himself, Ohio’s elections are safe and secure. Instead of using the resources and authority of his position to develop ways to make voting more accessible, there appears to be a campaign to restrict access under the guise of “election integrity.” Where is the system’s integrity? Unless voters have a driver’s license or the last four of one’s social security number, and a matching signature, an absentee ballot will not be counted; it will be flagged as incomplete or suspicious.

This ridiculous directive is yet another argument for a Voter Bill of Rights. This measure is needed because some policymakers have intentionally developed policy to induce unfounded panic about our election systems. Their actions don’t protect our election systems from fraud because it is not happening, certainly not at the rates or the manner equal to the response.

Election officials shouldn’t demolish the house in an effort to kill a mosquito. We have had good policies in the past that increased voter turnout and prevented voter fraud. On scale, some of our current officials propose using dynamite to get rid of insects, all while telling us the house is still intact and livable. Who are they really serving because it is not ordinary Ohioans.

I trust Ohio voters to do the right thing. I’m proud voters stood up last August to keep a reasonable ballot initiative process. If given the chance, they will support Issue One as they believe in a fair redistricting process. When the time comes, Ohioans must also support enshrining a Voter Bill of Rights in our constitution, because politicians keep demonstrating that they either do not have the desire or the will to do the right thing by voters. They would rather take away our rights while telling us they are acting in our best interest. We know better.  t is time they treat us as an informed and engaged electorate; we will settle for nothing less.

Deidra Reese is the voter engagement director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

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