Photo ID rule may be part of Ohio bill

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio voters would have to show photo identification before they could cast a ballot in person, one of a host of election-law changes included in a bill that a state Senate committee is considering.

The Republican-led Senate committee added the ID requirement to the bill Tuesday, despite opposition from the state’s elections chief, Democrats and the League of Women Voters of Ohio.

Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, opposes the requirement because it doesn’t give voters other ways to identify themselves, such as using full Social Security numbers, if they lack a photo ID, his office said in a statement.

Republicans argue the change is needed to tackle issues of voter fraud in the state, though groups such as the League of Women Voters contend there are few cases of it.

The House has approved a bill to require photo ID at the polls. The measure didn’t get much traction in the Senate, where leaders had said they were satisfied that components in Husted’s measure would protect against voter fraud.

The photo ID requirement comes as the Republican-controlled House and Senate are working out their differences in election bills they separately passed.

The requirement was included as part of the compromise, said Senate President Tom Niehaus, a New Richmond Republican.

State Sen. Shirley Smith, a Cleveland Democrat, accused GOP lawmakers of trying to suppress urban, minority and poorer voters who tend to lean more Democratic and are less likely to have driver’s licenses or other forms of photo ID. “This is all to maintain the majority at any cost,” she said.

The Senate Committee on Government Oversight and Reform planned to vote on the proposal Wednesday. The full Senate is likely to consider the measure this week.

The bill would reduce the number of early voting days in the state from the current 35-day window. Voters would have 21 days to vote by mail and could cast a ballot in person 17 days before Election Day.

The measure gets rid of a 5-day early-voting period in which new voters can register and cast a ballot. Among other changes to election law, it would:

Allow voters to register and change their addresses online.

Allow Saturday in- person early voting from 8 a.m. to noon; Sunday voting isn’t allowed.

Move the state’s presidential primary from March to May.

Permit boards of elections to hire temporary as well as part-time employees.

Allow those who cast a ballot by mail to still use other types of documents to identify themselves, such as a paycheck or utility bill.