Volunteer citizen advocates analyzing election data and laws since 2021 and sharing the truth about Ohio and U.S. elections
"Ask not what your country can do for you - but what you can do for your country." - JFK
Virtually all states have serious election integrity issues, including Ohio. Once you see the data as we have, you cannot unsee. That is why we are here.
ELECTION INTEGRITY LEGISLATION
Information regarding Ohio, federal and other states' relevant election integrity legislation.
Jump Forward to Specific Legislation:
U.S. SAVE America Act (2026)
6/22/2026 Judge Strikes Down President Trump's Executive Order to Expand Citizenship Verification Using the SAVE Database for Citizenship Verification - Appeal Likely
The December, 2024 Biden appointed judge was approved with o Republican support. Opponents to her nomination included concerns that her career concentrated in advocacy-oriented civil-rights work rather than criminal law or commercial litigation.
TRUTH IS, blocking federal SAVE citizenship verification weakens election integrity by limiting states' ability to verify voter eligibility and maintain accurate rolls. SAVE already supports benefits verification. Voter protections are available through audits, notices, and appeals.
THE ENEMY FROM WITHIN - PARTISAN APPOINTED JUDGES
OHIO PASSED HB472 THAT CLAIMS TO REQUIRE PHOTO ID TO VOTE BY MAIL - WHILE STILL ALLOWING VOTES WITHOUT PHOTO ID
Ohioans Deserve Better.
TRUTH IS, you can vote by mail with your name, birth date, 4 digits of SSN and affirm a “material obstacle” keeping you from providing a photo ID, BUT you can’t withdraw your own money from a bank without a photo ID.
WHY IS PROTECTING OUR MONEY MORE SECURE THAN PROTECTING OUR VOTE?
Ohio laws continue to allow fictitious persons to register using any last 4 digits of SSN, then vote absentee using the same last 4 digits of SSN - only now an excuse is needed for not providing a photo ID copy - how about "facing a material obstacle."
Boards of Elections beware: considering over 41,000 registered so far in 2026 with SSNs that doesn't match Social Security records, there are likely to be a lot of Affirmation absentee votes. View source information.
OHIO PASSED SJR 10, LETTING VOTERS DECIDE IN NOVEMBER 2026 WHETHER TO ADD A PHOTO ID REQUIREMENT FOR IN-PERSON VOTING TO THE OHIO CONSTITUTION.
IF PHOTO ID IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE SECURITY OF OHIO ELECTIONS THAT IT SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE OHIO CONSTITUTION, WHY NOT REQUIRE PHOTO ID FOR ALL VOTING METHODS, INCLUDING ABSENTEE?
Without a photo ID requirement for all votes, Ohio elections remain vulnerable to illegal voting, putting election security at risk.
Ohioans Deserve Better.
BE TRUTHFUL, Senate Joint Resolution 10 Promoters:
SJR 10, which was fast tracked through the Ohio General Assembly in June 2026 will be presented to voters in November as a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution requiring a PHOTO ID to vote.
Promoterss are misleading voters by suggesting that voters will be deciding whether to require photo ID for both IN-PERSON and ABSENTEE voting.
To be clear, the constitutional amendment before voters would require PHOTO ID only for IN-PERSON voting. Requirements for ABSENTEE voting by mail or drop-off (around 20% of all votes since 2023 according to Secretary of State official reporting) would not be constitutionally required, and will remain subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly, creating unequal treatment of votes.
Ohio election integrity advocates urged Senate and House Republicans to place a straightforward photo ID requirement for ALL VOTING METHODS before voters. Instead, they adopted the more complicated language below, and efforts to include a constitutional PHOTO ID requirement for ALL VOTING METHODS were blocked.
Article V Section 5(A): Electors shall provide photo identification in order to vote in person at a polling place or other voting location designated by law, in accordance with laws passed by the general assembly . . .
Article V Section 5(B): At a minimum, and in accordance with laws passed by the general assembly, electors shall provide photo identification or, if authorized by law, a signature and at least one other unique identifier in order to vote by an other method authorized by law.
Why does the public messaging by supporters of the Ohio’s ballot measure continue to lead voters to believe that photo ID will be required for ABSENTEE voting?
OHIOANS DESERVE THE TRUTH.
SJR 10 VOTER MANIPULATION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ALERT
Require Photo-ID to Vote In-Person, BUT Not to Vote By Mail
View Press Releases here and here regarding the proposed amendment to Ohio's Constitution requiring photo ID for in-person voting - BUT NOT FOR VOTING BY MAIL. This reflects flawed current state law in effect since 2023, under which more than 2 million mail ballots have been cast without a photo ID requirement.
The proposal also ignores current House Bill 577, which seeks to close the loophole that allows mail ballots to be cast without similar identity and citizenship verification as in-person voting, potentially diluting lawful votes with illegal votes affecting election outcomes.
Should the Joint Resolutions pass the legislature and the governor signs, an amendment to Ohio's Constitution will be placed on the November election. It will be promoted as requiring a photo ID to vote - while suppressing information that mail ballots - 20% of all ballots - will be excluded from the photo ID requirement, rendering the amendment as ineffective as the photo ID requirement for only in-person voters in current law. The poison pill is that it will severly limit to ability to put forth bills like HB577 in the future to fix the loopholes currently in identity verification to vote.
It appears Republican leaders in Ohio are attempting to stop genuine efforts that requires voter photo ID to vote and help ensure only eligible individuals vote in Ohio elections.
View HJR9 House Joint Resolution Proponent/Opponent Hearing May 27 - watch live on ohiochannel.org > Search Upcoming Events > Ohio House General Government committee 5/27/2026
Dear Fellow Ohio Voters,
Remember in November 2022 where there was a Constitutional Ballot Issue to clarify that ONLY U.S. citizens vote in Ohio elections, and Ohio voters responded overwhelmingly by 77% of the vote that yes, ONLY U.S. citizens should be permitted to vote in Ohio?
TRUTH IS, to this day, Ohio legislators have failed to pass legislation to ensure ONLY U.S. citizens vote in Ohio elections.
Now comes Ohio legislators proposing a Constitutional Ballot Issue for November 2026 that is being promoted as requiring voters to present a valid photo ID to vote, supported by President Trump and 95% of Republicans nationwide in a recent CBS News poll.
However, many Ohioans may not realize from public messaging is that the valid photo ID requirement would apply only to in-person voting, not to mail-in voting - which is consistent with current Ohio law, and telegraphs the veto-proof Ohio Republican supermajority's lack of interest in passing HB577, a current bill in the Ohio House to address the lack of a similar identity verification for mail-in voting, in which over 2 million votes were cast since Ohio legislators enacted their "strict" photo ID requirement to vote that only applied to in-person voters. Why don't the leaders in the Ohio legislature want to close a loophole that allows ballot harvesting and potential large numbers of illegal votes to dilute legal votes that could alter election outcomes?
If legislators believe this proposal reflects sound public policy, they should present it honestly and transparently to their constituents. Ohio voters deserve clear and complete information about what the amendment would - and would not - do before being asked to amend the state constitution.
Is it fair for ballots cast in-person to face stricter verification standards than ballots cast by mail? NO
Is it honest and transparent for legislators to message the proposed constitution ballot measure to the public as "require identification to vote," when the measure actually would "require photo identification to vote in-person but not by mail."
UNITED STATES PROPOSED ELECTION INTEGRITY BILLS 2025-2026
U.S. SAVE America Act
U.S. Make Elections Great Again (MEGA)
HB7300 is a proposed federal election reform bill that aims to set baseline federal standards for how federal elections are run across the U.S. with an emphasis on election integrity. Major provisions include:
-
Requires citizenship verification at registration
-
Requires states to regularly maintain accurate voter rolls and remove ineligible registrants
-
Requires Photo ID to cast any ballot
-
Mail-in Ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted
-
Voters must affirmatively request a mail-in ballot – no universal vote by mail
-
Bans ballot harvesting
-
Auditable paper ballots
-
Ban on ranked-choice voting
-
Restricts federal registration outreach at taxpayer expense
Summary: This bill has strong support from election integrity advocates, though some of its provisions could be improved.
OHIO ELECTION INTEGRITY BILLS PROPOSED 2025-2026
HB577 Require Copy of Photo-ID to Cast a Mail-In Ballot
This bill corrects the inequities in HB458 that required in-person voters to provide a photo ID, but not mail-in voters. Over a million mail-in ballots were cast in the November 2024 elections without a photo-Id requirement. Additionally, the bill:
-
Codifies in home BMV services for confined or disabled voters
-
Expands access to a free copy of photo ID from all state agencies providing voter registration forms
-
Enhances online voter registration security by requiring multi-factor authentication
-
Creates a searchable online voter record portal for voters to access their public record voting information, and provides information for registrants so they can clear their provisional status and vote a regular ballot.
View and download Shortfalls in Current Law and Key Provisions of HB577.
View HB577 Legislation Summary, Legislation Text, Analysis, Status, Committee Activity (download and view written and in-person testimonies here)
View video of the hearing (HB577 hearing starts at the 38 minute mark) and listen for yourself the pushback received from both Republican and Democrat Committee members, even though 95% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats nationwide favor photo ID.
This bill was drafted with guidance from election integrity advocates who encourage your full support in promoting this bill!
Under current Ohio law, voters who appear in person at the polls must present a valid, unexpired photo ID. If their ID is expired, they cannot cast a regular ballot. Instead, they must vote a provisional ballot and later return to the board of elections with an unexpired photo ID for their vote to be counted.
Mail-in voters may provide a driver’s license or state ID number when voting, without any requirement that such number be a valid, unexpired license or ID. This creates an inconsistency in Ohio’s voter identification rules: voters appearing at the polls must prove their identity with a current ID, while voters casting absentee ballots do not.
This disparity raises concerns about uniformity and fairness in the administration of elections. Election laws should apply equally to all voters, regardless of whether they vote in person or by mail. When different standards apply, it undermines confidence that the rules are being applied consistently.
HB 577 addresses this issue by requiring voters who cast absentee ballots by mail to include a copy of their photo identification with the ballot materials, helping ensure more consistent identification standards across voting methods.
IS IT EQUAL TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW when an Ohio voter who shows an expired driver's license in-person must cast a provisional ballot and renew their license for identification, while an absentee voter can simply enter a driver's license number that isn't checked for expiration? NO.
HB577 remedies this loophole in Ohio law by requiring absentee voters to provide a copy of a valid, unexpired photo ID.
Secretary LaRose has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Robert Sprague has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Marcell Strbich not only endorses HB577, he was influential in the writing of the bill, and gave proponent testimony on the bill.
IS IT POSSIBLE under current Ohio law for the identity of persons with expired driver's licenses to be used to register and vote absentee without being detected? YES.
HB577 remedies this loophole in Ohio law by requiring absentee voters to provide a copy of a valid, unexpired photo ID.
Secretary LaRose has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Robert Sprague has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Marcell Strbich not only endorses HB577, he was influential in the writing of the bill, and gave proponent testimony on the bill.
IS IT POSSIBLE under current Ohio law for persons using paper applications to register, then vote absentee using a fake driver's license number or last four digits of social security number that doesn't exist in BMV or Social Security records?
YES.
HB577 remedies this loophole in Ohio law by requiring absentee voters to provide a copy of a valid, unexpired photo ID.
Secretary LaRose has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Robert Sprague has not endorsed HB577.
Secretary of State Candidate Marcell Strbich not only endorses HB577, he was influential in the writing of the bill, and gave proponent testimony on the bill.
HB314 Limits the People's Ability to Hold Government Accountable
Sponsored by Republican Sharon Ray and Democrat Dani Isaacsohn, HB 314 limits public records requests, weakening the 63-year-old Ohio Public Records Act enacted in 1963 during a national push for open government and citizens’ access to records to monitor corruption and government spending. Even before 1963, courts recognized a common-law principle that government records belonged to the public.
In the decades that followed, many Ohioans became less engaged in government oversight. That changed after the 2020 election. The Butler County Board of Elections previously received about three public records requests per year, but requests surged afterward.
Now pressure is mounting on both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to restrict citizen rights to records requests. Under HB 314, requests could be denied if they are deemed to “harass or burden” an agency or if they interfere with normal operations. The bill would also allow agencies to hire contractors to process records requests and bill the requester.
Rather than expand transparency by proactively publishing public information online, election integrity advocates argue the proposal limits access to government records—the very transparency the Ohio Public Records Act was designed to guarantee.
The following X post by Kim Georgeton, candidate for Lt. Governor of Ohio, clearly explains why this bill does not promote transparency in Ohio, and We the People should strongly oppose it. " At its core, this bill is not about efficiency. It is about limiting the people’s ability to hold government accountable.
The Ohio Constitution is very clear. Article I, Section 3 guarantees citizens the right to assemble, to instruct their representatives, and to petition for redress of grievances. Article I, Section 16 guarantees that every person has remedy by due course of law for injuries to their land, property, or person. Those rights are meaningless without access to public records. Public records are how citizens uncover misconduct, track spending, and ensure that those in power are acting lawfully.
House Bill 314 undermines those rights by allowing government offices to label records requests as “harassing” or “disruptive,” delay responses through litigation, and even restrict future requests. That flips the Constitution upside down. Government works for the people. The people do not need permission to access what belongs to them.
And we should be expanding transparency—not restricting it—especially after major failures in accountability, from the FirstEnergy bribery scheme to controversial executive actions during the administration of Mike DeWine. When trust is low, transparency must go up. So instead of passing a bill that limits access, here is the solution: Ohio should require all public records to be proactively posted online in a centralized, searchable, public database. Contracts. Spending. Communications. Permits. Development agreements. Everything browsable. Everything searchable. Everything accessible to every Ohioan—without barriers, delays, or legal intimidation. This reduces the workload on agencies. It lowers taxpayer costs. And it restores trust through full visibility. That is how a constitutional republic is supposed to function. House Bill 314 moves us away from that standard. We should reject it—and move forward with real transparency reforms that put power back where it belongs: with the people. #ohio vote @CaseyPutschOhio for full transparency."
"Ax the Tax" - Remove Ohio Property Tax (petition in progress)
Check back for more information
PETITION SIGNATURES ARE BEING GATHERED FOR MISLEADING OHIO "BILL OF RIGHTS" DEMOCRAT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
*** WAKE UP OHIO !!! ***
AN ASSAULT ON OUR RIGHT TO FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN OHIO UNDER THE DISGUISE OF A VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PETITION INITIATIVE:
Among the list of “rights” which would be created by this amendment:
-
automatic voter registration,
-
unchecked same-day voter registration and voting,
-
a signed declaration of identity to replace a voter’s photo identification,
-
multiple unregulated drop boxes and early voting locations throughout a county,
-
an extended post-election ballot return period,
-
unregulated expansion of early voting hours by county,
-
state-funded prepaid return postage for all absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots, and
-
a ban on the removal of inactive voter registration records, as required under current state and federal law, resulting in these registrations remaining on the rolls despite the voter having moved or died.
DO NOT SIGN THE VOTER BILL OF RIGHTS PETITION AND
LET YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS KNOW!
Major loopholes in the bill continue to allow potential noncitizens and voters with unverifiable identification to vote.
UPDATE 11/20/2025: A Senate hearing was scheduled Nov 18, 2025, presumably to pass the bill out of committee, but was then cancelled. Because some provisions in this bill were added to SB293, it is not known how this bill will proceed.
View and download Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Ohio Members' Call to Action requesting the Ohio Senate to Strengthen Sub-Bill 153.
View annd download SB153 Sub-Bill Major Deficiencies.
View and download SB153 Sub-Bill Critical Assessment.
View and download SB153 Sub-Bill Shortfalls and Proposed Improvements.
View SB153 Sub-Bill legislation updates here and here.
SB153 Require Citizenship Verification Before an Elector May Vote
HB233 Require Citizenship Verification Before an Elector May Vote
An exact replica and companion bill to SB153 that claims to "Require citizenship verification before an elector may vote," but major loopholes allow potential noncitizens and voters with unverifiable identification to vote.
Election integrity advocates are providing guidance on a sub-bill to correct major loopholes.
HB586 Prohibit Mailing Unsolicited Absentee Ballot Request Forms
HB 586 is a step in the right direction. The legislation correctly recognizes that absentee by mail ballot applications should be initiated by the voter. It would prohibit the Secretary of State from automatically mailing applications to all registered voters—a practice that costs taxpayers millions of dollars—and would prevent third-party groups from mailing applications to voters who did not request them.
That is a meaningful improvement.
HB 586 addresses the mailbox, but it does not prohibit the unsolicited distribution or facilitation of those applications by other means, and third-party organizations could potentially switch delivery methods and continue distributing applications to voters who never requested them. Nevertheless, we support the goal of HB 586 and believe it can become meaningful election integrity legislation.
Require an affirmative request for an absentee ballot application from the voter.
View HB586 legislation updates.
OHIO ELECTION INTEGRITY BILLS PASSED INTO LAW 2022-2026
Senate Bill #293 signed into law 2026
SB293 Sub-bill was quickly added in the House and passed by the House and Senate in a matter of days, bypassing normal committee review, extended public testimony, and the customary deliberative process that typically allows lawmakers and citizens to fully examine the impact of proposed legislation. Key provisions include:
-
Eliminates four day post-Election Day grace period for mail-in ballots
-
Provides monthly cross-checks of voter rolls using BMV and federal SAVE citizenship data
-
Requires flagged records with ID # or birthdate to vote provisional, while still allowing Name mismatches to vote a regular ballot
-
-
Mandates the Secretary of State conduct regular citizenship verification of registered voters and act on records that indicate non-citizenship
Improvements Proposed, but Ignored by Lawmakers:
-
Require overseas ballots be received by Election Day.
-
Require provisional voting if registration Name identity check does not significantly match authoritative databases.
-
Verify identity information prior to registration, as intended under federal HAVA law, which will prevent additional backend administrative tasks and reduce the risk of ineligible votes being counted.
-
Ensure that all new and current registrants without a voter registration ID number are verified for identity and U.S. citizenship, with provisional voting required for registrants who do not meet this condition.
-
Ensure that all new and current registrants without a valid driver's license or state ID are verified for identity and U.S. citizenship, with provisional voting required for registrants who do not meet this condition.
-
Address the issue of deceased voters whose registration records contain unverifiable ID information, ensuring they can be properly identified and removed from the rolls.
-
Resolve the problem of poll workers and Board of Elections staff having to determine citizenship based solely on photocopies of proof-of-citizenship documents, without verification through authorized databases as required under federal HAVA law.
Summary: A net positive step, but the new law missed a major opportunity to close significant gaps in Ohio law that still permit ineligible persons to vote in Ohio elections and potentially altering election outcomes, despite Ohio Constitution requirements.
TRUTH IS, Ohio’s Constitution mandates that anyone who isn’t eligible to vote – noncitizens, minors, nonresidents, fictitious persons – must not be permitted to vote. SB293 fails to ensure only eligible persons vote in Ohio elections.
TRUTH IS, Boards can’t VERIFY any registration data because they lack database access, yet county Job & Family Services staff has access. Why isn’t the security of Ohio elections as important?
TRUTH IS, SB293 requires fictitious persons be removed from the voter rolls. Instead, why doesn’t Ohio perform true identity verification BEFORE registration and confirm all existing voters are genuine? Then fictitious voters such as Henry Kissinger in Hamilton County in 2024 would not occur and such a law would be unnecessary.
TRUTH IS, SB293 requires poll workers to authenticate photocopies of Certificates of Naturalization and other proof of citizenship documents by a simple visual inspection. Modern technology can easily produce convincing counterfeits. Will poll workers inadvertently determine citizenship for noncitizens?
TRUTH IS, the lack of identity verification before registration to confirm Name, Age, and ID# allows 50,000+ on Ohio voter rolls whose data doesn’t match BMV/SSA records. A bank doesn’t allow someone to do business with them without verifying their identity. Why should voting be less secure?
TRUTH IS, 50,000+ voters have mismatched Name, Birthdate or ID# to BMV/SSA records. SB293 claims to require provisional voting for mismatches, yet removes NAME from verification - contrary to federal standards. This allows voters with non-matching Names, including potentially ineligible voters, to cast regular ballots instead of proving eligibility provisionally.
TRUTH IS, identity theft is real. Hundreds of thousands of voters appear on a USPS list as having moved to another state. SB293 does not stop criminals from changing registration names and addresses, then vote by mail indefinitely using stolen IDs and birth dates.
TRUTH IS, individuals voting in-person must provide their photo ID, and individuals voting by mail do not, creating unequal treatment. Additionally, mail-in voting does not require an unexpired driver license, while in-person voting does.
TRUTH IS, Online voter registratiions are vulnerable to hacking due to lacking multifactor authorization required for banking and many other website.
Senate Bill #71, "The Data Analysis Transparency Archive (DATA) Act"
SB71 and it's $5 million appropriation did not become law through the normal legislative process; however, many of its provisions were incorporated into Ohio's 2023 state operating budget. Election integrity advocates criticized the emphasis on funding an expensive backend administrative policy while continuing to allow noncitizens and other potentially ineligible individuals to vote in Ohio elections, raising concerns about the potential impact on election outcomes. Key provisions include:
-
Creates an Office of Data Analytics and Archives within the Secretary of State's office
-
Codifies uniform data definitions for election records (e.g. voter registration date)
-
Requires daily archives of county voter registration databases to be sent to the Secretary of State
Blog: SB71 - A missed opportunity to significantly improve Election Integrity in Ohio
2023 SB71 The DATA Act:
Status: Ohio citizens presented a number of proposed improvements to SB71 The DATA Act (see Blog and Additional Details below) to the Secretary of State's office, House Representatives and Senators that would have made Ohio elections more secure and accurate. SB71 was included in Senate Budget 6/9/2023 without any citizen proposed improvements. SB71 without any citizen proposed improvements was inserted into HB33 Budget Bill and signed by Governor DeWine 7/4/2023.
One positive item in the bill included a correction to a previously flawed Registration Date data field in which there is, in many cases, no way to know the original voter registration date of an individual, since this data field is updated whenever a voter record is updated, and perhaps every time a registered voter updates their driver's license or state id. This causes a large number of voter records with Registration Dates beyond the deadline to register and vote to be intermingled with actual voter registrations that are added to the voter rolls after the deadline to register and vote in an election.
Although passed into law on 7/4/2023, HB33 states the implementation date for The DATA Act to be by January 1, 2025 around 18 months after the bill was signed, and conveniently AFTER the November 2024 presidential election, potentially allowing yet another presidential election to have flawed Registration Dates on voter rolls in which eligible voter registrations will be comingled with ineligible voter registrations with a Registration date beyond the deadline to register and vote in the November 2024 election.
Summary: $5 million taxpayer funded bill that claims to bolster uniformity and transparency in Ohio elections, but in reality does very little to improve the integrity of Ohio's elections. Citizens proposed improvements to this bill to verify citizenship, identity
and Ohio residency, clean-up hundreds of thousands of voter registrations records and investigate hundreds of additional voter registrations, and to include an online repository of many public election records, including cast vote records; however, not one proposed citizen improvement is included.
Blog: SB71 - A missed opportunity to significantly improve Election Integrity in Ohio.
Blog
Additional Details
House Bill #458
HB458 was introduced as a narrow bill to generally eliminate August special elections. During 2022 lame-duck session, the bill was dramatically expanded into a sweeping omnibus election law that included many new voting and election administration provisions, including:
-
Required all in-persons to present a valid photo-ID, but continued to permit mail-in voters - who are most vulnerable to ineligible voting - to vote without a copy of a photo-ID. This lapse allowed over a million votes from mail-in voters without a providing a copy of a photo-ID
-
Shortened the deadline for receive absentee ballots from 10 to 4 days after Election Day
-
Eliminated in-person early voting the Monday before Election Day
-
Codified one drop box per county, with restrictions on location and access. Drop boxes were widely used without supporting law in the 2020 and succeeding elections.
-
Restricts curbside voting eligibility to the disabled
-
Eliminates most August Special Elections
TRUTH IS, HB458 was broadly promoted in 2022 by Republican sponsors and state leadership - including Secretary LaRose - as establishing "strict photo ID" requirements for voting in Ohio.
Since then, over 2 million voters cast absentee ballots without having to provide a photo ID.
So much for a "strict photo ID" requirement in Ohio, even though 95% of Republicans nationwide support requiring photo ID to vote according to a
March 2026 CBS poll.
OHIO FAILED ELECTION RELATED LEGISLATION 2022-2026
Issue 1 August 2023 Special Election
A Constitutional Amendment that would have changed the rules for future citizen-led constitutional amendments in Ohio failed by a wide margin. It sought to:
-
Increase the vote threshold required to approve any future constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 50% supermajority
-
Require petition signatures for all 88 Ohio counties, instead of the current 44 for citizen-led initiatives.
-
Eliminate the "cure period", the extra time initiative organizers currently have to fix signature issues before a deadline
Issue 1's defeat comes ahead of a vote on the constitution amendment proposal backed by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. The ambiguously worded proposal, deceptively titled "The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety" went before the voters in November 2023 and had been universally criticized by pro-lifers for enabling abortion until birth without parental consent. Turnout was atypically high for the August special election. More than 533,000 people early voted by mail or in-person, nearly double the early voting in the two most recent statewide primary elections for governor and the legislature. Question is, were all of the votes from individuals who are eligible to vote (U.S. citizens residing in Ohio and at least 18 years old)?
HB552
HB472/SB274 Ohio Votes Act Summary
Big Picture Issues:
-
Election officials are not computer specialists, but elections rely heavily on computer technology.
-
Even when known to be ineligible, a voter registration generally requires 4 or more years to be removed.
-
Voting systems are built and certified to outdated 2005 security standards.
-
Ohio elections lack safeguards to prevent 267,000+ non-citizens from registering and voting.
Board of Voting System Examiners
ISSUES: The Board lacks cybersecurity expertise and certification standards for voter registration systems.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Include cybersecurity experts on the board of voting system examiners.
-
Establish standards and require certification of new voter registration systems.
-
Cybersecurity review is necessary to certify a new voting system.
-
Require publication of voting system certification reports and recommendations.
-
Require voter registration systems to be physically located in Ohio in a facility under the board of elections control.
Cybersecurity Standards
ISSUES: Election systems security standards are outdated.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Use 3rd party reviewers to conduct a cyber security assessment of voting systems seeking certification.
-
Adopt voting system certification standards based on most recent National Institute of Standards & Technology and federal guidelines.
-
Require a periodic review and voting system vendor disclosure of software development practices as part of a continued certification security review.
-
Require use of a digital blockchain ledger to log all voter registration system changes.
County Voting System Backup
ISSUES: No contingencies exist if a voting system is decertified.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Authorize a county opt-in provision for hand counted paper ballots through passage of an electorate introduced ballot petition initiative.
Election Administration
-
Requires most people to register to vote using an Ohio driver's license or state identification card number.
-
Requires most voters to include a copy of their voter identification when returning a mail-in ballot.
-
Requires a provisional ballot to be counted when both a provisional and absentee ballot are cast.
-
Requires an elector to sign a form when updating their voter registration.
-
Requires online publishing of voter election reports.
Voter Registration Data Validation
ISSUES: State and county voter registration systems contain numerous avoidable data entry errors.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Use reference lists of names and addresses to verify new and existing voter registration records.
-
Issue weekly reports to counties identifying various errors in their voter registration databases.
-
Before adding an applicant to the voter registration database, require the voter registration to match the information on the applicant’s driver’s license or state id card.
-
Cancel voter registrations for electors who have moved if they are registered to vote or have applied for a driver’s license in another state.
-
Simplify the system for assigning unique record identifiers in the statewide voter registration database.
-
Use a commercial service for monthly voter registration data analysis.
Audit Voter Registration Databases
ISSUES: The current audit is not independent or thorough.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Require the Auditor of State to conduct an annual audit of the statewide voter registration database and three randomly selected counties.
Identity and Citizenship Verification
ISSUES: There are insufficient safeguards to prevent non-citizens and ineligible persons from registering and voting.
SOLUTIONS:
-
Increase the frequency of review for non-citizens and other ineligible voters.
-
Provide counties with resources to verify identity and citizenship prior to registration and for absentee and provisional ballot screening.
-
Expand voter registration instructions to include citizenship and other eligibility requirements.
-
Introduce safeguards and procedures at social services, BMV and registration agencies to ensure noncitizens are not misled into illegally registering to vote.
-
Require an elector to vote a provisional ballot until US citizenship is verified.
Did you know . . .
Slideshow of Ohio Elections Issues & HB472 Ohio Votes Count Act Solutions
SLIDES 1-20 SLIDES 21-40
SLIDES 41-60 SLIDES 61- 87
Ohio Elections Quick Facts and HB472 Ohio Votes Act Solutions
press # for more details
U.S. CONGRESS FAILED ELECTION INTEGRITY LEGISLATION
20xx US House Introduces American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act: This comprehensive bill includes nearly 50 standalone bills sponsored by members of the House Republican Conference. The ACE Act has 3 main pillars: Equipping states with election integrity tools, implementing election integrity reforms in Washington DC and protecting political speech and donor privacy. A photo id will be required when casting a ballot to ensure the person casting a ballot is who they claim to be. Federal funds are prohibited from going to places that allow non-citizens to vote. States will be able to use federal funds on audits and to implement restrictions on ballot harvesting. 501(c)(3) organizations will be forbidden in our elections (Zuckerbucks). The Department of Homeland Security and Social Securiity Administration will be required to provide data to states so they can check if registered voters are citizens or if they died.
View a summary of The ACE Act for more details.
UNITED STATES CONGRESS ELECTION INTEGRITY INFORMATION
Aug. 2023: RNC Resolution Urges a Return to Excellence in American Voting and Elections. The Resolution says what election integrity advocates want to hear, but will they deliver? It refers to a 'return to excellence' in American voting and elections; was there ever a period in which American voting and elections were excellent? Where have Republican government officials been in recent years to allow our local, state and national elections get to this point? At minimum, they have been enabled the current situation.
OHIO ELECTION INTEGRITY ISSUES WITH NO PENDING LEGISLATION
Coming Soon!
Please Contact Us to add your issues to the list.
ELECTION INTEGRITY LEGISLATION ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
US Voting Laws & Legislation Center
A comprehensive collection of US voting laws, legislative development & news developed by LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.
Wyoming GOP governor vetoes bill to require proof of residency to vote. Secretary of State says he is enabling illegal immigrant votes.
Arizona judge allows US citizenship verification to register to vote. A federal judge upheld a group of new Arizona laws, which would require registered voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship for their votes to be counted. Arizona legislators were accused of discrimination after they adopted the laws, which requires counties to verify the status of registered voters. However, in a Thursday ruling, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled that such requirements are not discriminatory and that the state has an interest in preventing voter fraud and limiting voting to those individuals eligible to vote. “Considering the evidence as a whole, the court concludes that Arizona’s interests in preventing non-citizens from voting and promoting public confidence in Arizona’s elections outweighs the limited burden voters might encounter when required to provide (documentary proof of citizenship),” the judge wrote.
Arizona doesn't verify federal voter citizenship to register to vote - because federal law has been interpreted to prohibit it. NEWS FLASH: Ohio doesn't verify citizenship before adding voters to Ohio Voter Rolls either, and likely no state does due to a US Supreme Court decision. This decision allowed voter rolls to contain noncitizens across our country.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Key Provisions of Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship and other provisions prior to trial. The provision requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voters using the federal form is blocked. Voter purges within 90 days of an election were also found to violate NVRA. You don't need to have a street address for your home to satisfy proof of residency.
Missouri photo id law is back in court: Missouri legislature has pushed for nearly 20 years to pass a law requiring voters to show photo identification to cast a regular ballot. Free photo id cards are available. Those without a government issued photo ID can cast provisional ballots to be counted if they return later with a photo ID or if election officials verify their signature.
