VOTING RIGHTS ISSUES SUMMIT COUNTY PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS (approved 4-13-
10)
“Voting is the right upon which all other rights depend.”—Thomas Paine
Federal and State: We have witnessed many flaws in the electoral process in our state and
nation. Because of this, many citizens feel disenfranchised by the system. Many others doubt the
accuracy of the results. Our goal is to have legal, efficient, and accurate elections; with
participation in the election process accessible to all of the electorate.
● We support improved access to voter registration through the “motor voter” law enacted by
Congress in 1993. The legislation requires state governments to allow for registration when a
qualifying voter applies for their drivers license or applies for social services.
● We support transparency in our elections. This can be accomplished by paper ballots, or at
least a paper trail for voting machines.
● We demand freedom of access to election information, and audits when requested.
● We support legitimate efforts to eliminate voter fraud wherever it is shown to actually exist.
● We oppose attempts to disenfranchise voters and to restrict or discourage voting under the
guise of preventing voter fraud.
● We encourage early voting and absentee voting as much as possible to offset these
problems.
● We support permitting voters to cast a ballot irrespective of voting location.
● We support focusing voter identification on verification of identity, not address.
● We support expanding the number of in-person early voting locations.
● We support limiting the reasons voters are required to vote a provisional ballot and ncreasing
the instances where that ballot is counted.
●We support campaign finance reform which encourages small donations by individuals
combined with public financing. We call for restrictions on political activity by for-profit
corporations to the maximum extent permitted by law and for the Supreme Court to overrule
its decision allowing such activity.
SCPD Position on HB 194
SCPD supports the referendum drive to repeal HB 194. We support the statewide push to gather about 232,000 valid voter signatures to place a referendum on the Nov. 2012 ballot. If we succeed by Sept. 29, 2011, the law - scheduled to go into effect Sept. 30 - would be put on hold for this election and next year's presidential election, when Ohio voters would decide whether or not they want to keep the law.
Here’s what H.B. 194 would do if voters don’t stop it:
1. Size of voting precincts: voting precincts in cities but not rural areas would be required by law to be
made bigger in many cases, which could result in longer lines on Election Day in cities,
2. Poll workers: poll workers would not be required to tell a voter they are in the wrong precinct and
that their ballot is not counted if they are,
3. Advantages for corporations: rules would be struck down and laws would be softened that regulate
corporations’ activities in campaigns,
4. Citizen petition drives: the time needed to get enough signatures for a statewide petition such as
this one would be shortened,
5. Technical reasons not to count votes: more technical reasons would be created to keep ballots
from being counted, especially when voters make mistakes, like putting the current year in your birth
date for an absentee ballot,
6. Using your Social Security number to take you off the rolls: the state would be able to take
your driver’s license or state ID information and/or the last four digits of your Social Security number
and other private information about you and compare it with other government records to take you off
the voting rolls, even if it finds new information and could correct your information for you,
7. Taking away time to correct your ballot: if you voted a provisional ballot, you would not get the
10 days you now have after the election to give additional information so your vote can be counted,
even though election officials could take 10 das to determine if you met requirements by checking their
own records,
8. Narrowing of Voter ID Requirements: If you don’t have ID on Election Day and don’t or can’t
supply the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number, you cannot sign a required affirmation for
provisional voting, denying you your vote,
9. Shortening early voting and no Sunday voting: you would only have 3 weeks (not 5) to vote
absentee by mail before Election Day; if you vote absentee in person, you only have 2 weeks, and
there would be no Sunday voting,
10. Long lines not allowed to interfere with nearby business: even if there is a long line of voters,
the law would now ban that line from interfering with a nearby business,
11. Allows for more restrictive voter ID in the future: if more restrictive voter ID requirements
become law, this bill says they will control, no matter what.
Also read the editorial "Equilizing Ballot Access" from the Toledo Blade here.
" Republicans and Democrats both claim to defend the integrity of the ballot in their battle over early and absentee voting in Ohio. Both are more interested in gaining partisan advantage in the 2012 presidential election. It's more important not to enact unneeded restrictions that make it harder for Ohioans to vote. "...
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