By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Despite warnings of rampant voter fraud across the nation, a post-election audit last November showed a perfect accuracy rate and no voter fraud in the presidential race in Ohio.
That led Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, to again declare Ohio as the “gold standard” for election integrity.
But that 100% accuracy rate in the presidential race has not been enough to quiet the calls for more voter restrictions.
The latest came last week in the form of Senate Bill 153, introduced by State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, and State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware. Their proposal calls for the banning of ballot drop boxes and for voters to provide proof of citizenship.
“Senate Bill 153 addresses areas of the election law we can improve, including an extra layer of protection to enforce our state constitution’s citizenship requirement,” Gavarone stated in a press release. “This is a simple fix that strengthens trust and integrity in our institutions.”
But some election officials are questioning if it is really that simple, and if it will lead to many voters being denied their legal right to cast their ballots?
Meanwhile, the U.S. House is expected to consider the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act this coming week. The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act to require voter registration applicants to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. A similar bill passed out of the House in 2024 but stalled in the Senate.
According to Gavarone’s bill in Ohio, citizenship must be verified when people register to vote or update their registrations. The bill also requires that the Secretary of State regularly review statewide voter rolls to identify potential non-citizens.
More voting restrictions are also being proposed at the federal level.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for broad election changes, such as proof of citizenship for voter registration and an Election Day return deadline for mailed ballots.
The Associated Press cited election officials, state attorneys general and legal experts, who said Trump’s efforts would face legal challenges for encroaching on state powers outlined in the U.S. Constitution. Non-citizen voting, which is already a felony in federal elections that can lead to prison time and deportation, is exceedingly rare.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal money for states that don’t comply.
Wood County Board of Elections Director Terry Burton could not recall any other executive orders being made regarding elections. “We answer to the Secretary of State and State Legislature,” he said on Friday.
Millions of Americans don’t have appropriate documents readily available to prove their citizenship even though they are U.S. citizens, according to the Associated Press. For example, in town elections in New Hampshire, which recently passed a proof of citizenship requirement, some women didn’t have proper documentation because they had changed their last names when they married.
Trump’s order also says the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Government Efficiency, the government cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk, will be able to obtain and review each state’s voter registration lists and potentially sensitive voter data.
Both the SAVE Act and Trump’s executive order require in-person voter registration at election offices. Anyone moving or changing their name will have to re-register in person, according to League of Women Voters of Bowling Green representative Sharlyn Katzner, who voiced concerns about the changes in a letter to BG Independent News.
The Wood County Board of Elections processed approximately 34,424 voter registration forms last year, Katzner said. Of those forms, 20,750 voters used the online form to register or update their registrations, 10,567 mailed in a printed form, and 4,846 people updated or registered at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. None of these methods for registering to vote or updating voter registrations will be allowed under the new law, Katzner pointed out.
This change would not only create more hoops for voters, but also add work for elections offices whose staff will have to get birth certificates, passports or naturalization papers verified.
“This law is not about keeping non-citizens from voting, it’s about keeping people who don’t agree with the people in power from voting,” Katzner wrote.
Gavarone’s bill also proposes that ballot drop boxes be banned in Ohio.
During the November 2024 election, 2,233 ballots were placed in the Wood County drop box, according to Burton.
“The drop box is a convenience factor for people,” Burton said on Friday. “Some may have a lack of trust in the postal system, or want to avoid the price of a stamp.”
“I think voters have gotten used to the opportunity to use it,” he said of the ballot drop box. “It’s removing an option for them.”
Ohio already took steps to restrict use of ballot drop boxes last year before the November election. LaRose issued a directive last fall that only people dropping off their own ballots may use drop boxes.
That meant people dropping off ballots for family members must go into the board of elections office during business hours and fill out paperwork required by the Secretary of State attesting to their relationship to the voter. They cannot use the drop off box.
As that directive went into effect, Wood County Board of Elections Director Terry Burton said that many people use the drop box outside the Wood County Courthouse Complex in Bowling Green for ballots filled out by family members.
“It’s not uncommon for spouses to bring in ballots. People have used the drop box with regularity,” Burton said.
LaRose argued that he was not trying to disenfranchise voters, but rather protect against fraud that could happen with “ballot harvesting.”
Burton stressed that no changes will take place prior to the May election in Wood County.
“We’re still trying to work through all the implications” of the proposed changes,” he said. “For the May election, the rules are the same.”
