Posted on 12/10/2009 5:42:46 AM PST by Gun142
Compromise to be sought with Ohio House bill
Thursday, December 10, 2009 3:25 AM
By Jim Siegel
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Senate Republicans approved a variety of election-law changes yesterday, such as increasing the number of places where voters can cast absentee ballots and ending the one-week span when Ohioans could register and vote on the same day.
The action came three weeks after House Democrats passed their own set of election-law changes. The question now is whether the two chambers will marry their ideas in time for the 2010 elections.
Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, sponsor of the election bill, said he wished House Democrats would have delayed action on their bill so talks between the two chambers and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner could have continued.
(Excerpt) Read more at dispatchpolitics.com ...
Highlights of the Ohio Senate's election-law bill:
• Ends in-person absentee balloting at 5 p.m. on the Saturday before the election and eliminates "golden week," when Ohioans were able to register and vote on the same day.
• Sets standards for when the secretary of state must appoint members of county board of elections who are recommended by the local political party.
• Requires that absentee ballots for voters abroad, both military and civilian, be available 45 days before an election, and allows such people to ask for electronic documents.
• Changes the filing deadline for candidates and issues from the 75th day to the 90th day before an election.
• Eliminates the ability to hold a March special election in presidential election years.
• Allows a person to declare a political-party affiliation when registering to vote.
• Specifies what information must appear on absentee-ballot identification envelopes.
• Specifies how the secretary of state must disclose to county election boards results of matching the statewide voter-registration database against motor-vehicle and Social Security databases.
• Reduces from 100 feet to 50 feet the distance from a polling site in which a person cannot distribute literature or otherwise engage in campaign activities.
• Clarifies that voter-registration mismatches based on a driver's license number, Social Security number or date of birth shall not be the sole reason for removing a voter from the statewide database.
Source: Senate Republicans
Outlaws the use of ballots found anywhere other than the polling place more than 24 hours after the election.
Makes it a Class A felony to deny the vote BY ANY MEANS to anyone actively serving in the military.
Bars ACORN or any subsequent organizations or affiliates or subsidiaries, or any organization under indictment for voter fraud, voter intimidation, or any voter interference scheme, from registering voters, transporting voters, transferring money by any means for the purpose of influencing votes, or being involved in any get out the vote, political advertising or poll watching activities.
And, the biggest one... Require appropriate State official (AG? SofS?) to VERIFY and JOURNALIZE the eligibility of candidates for State and Federal offices; local Boards of Election to VERIFY eligibility of all other candidates.
This is bad. So is the same-day party ID.
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