Senate back plan to move Ohio primary a week

By Marc Kovac | May 28, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Senate has given its OK to legislation moving the state’s presidential primary back a week.

House Bill 153 passed the chamber on a split vote of 23-10 Wednesday, a little more than a month after a comparable result in the Ohio House. The legislation awaits Gov. John Kasich’s signature for enactment.

Presidential primaries, under current law, are on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March.

HB 153 would shift the primary to the second Tuesday after the first Monday of that month.

Backers say the move would allow Ohio to take advantage of rules adopted by the Republican National Committee requiring states with primaries between March 1 and March 14 to be subject to a proportional allocation of their delegates, while those with primaries on March 15 or later to award delegates on a “winner-takes-all” basis.

Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Copley, who serves as chairman of the committee that considered HB 153, said the bill would enhance Ohio’s electoral significance, particularly in a year when the Republican National Convention is set to take place in Cleveland.

Democrats opposed the date change, with concerns about the impact on voter turnout.

“I worry that by moving the primary to the middle of the month, as this bill proposes, confusion will be created among voters,” said Sen. Edna Brown, D-Toledo.

But LaRose said Ohio continues to offer nearly a month of early voting.

“Remember, Ohio has one of the largest early-voting periods in any state in the country, with 29 days,” he said, adding, “If people are accustomed to voting on the first Tuesday after the first Monday, they can still do so.”