The new voting law “reluctantly” signed by the governor will cause mail-in ballots to be discarded if they arrive a couple of days after the election. The BG Independent News published an article about this law and posted it on their FB page. The comments about the new law motivated me to write this letter. I testified against the bill when it was debated in the State House of Representatives and want to share a summary of what I said.
I’ve been a member of various voter rights groups for over 10 years and was a poll worker for the last election. I’ve seen how hard it is for some people to vote. I’ve watched people with canes and walkers who were unable to walk from their cars to the door of the polling location without stopping to rest. I saw a woman tow an oxygen tank to the voter check-in table and arrive out-of-breath. I watched an elderly spouse struggle to get his wife’s wheelchair out of the car so she could vote. During early voting in Lucas County, I observed people stand in line for over 2 hours to vote.
Almost every year, the Ohio General Assembly makes it even harder for people to vote. They mandated that each county have only one drop box, regardless of the population of the county. They severely restricted who can return an absentee ballot for another person and demanded that anyone who did so must bypass the drop box and go inside the Board of Elections to complete a form. And now, even if people mail their ballots by election day, they may not be counted.
I’ve encountered people who requested an absentee ballot, but weeks later, it hadn’t arrived. Some had to request a second one. A student who was attending college in southern Ohio had to drive home to northwest Ohio because her absentee ballot didn’t arrive. After voting by mail, some people worry that their ballot won’t be delivered on time and go to the polls as a safeguard. These examples illustrate why the 4-day grace period is needed.
In the last election, 78 Wood County mail-in ballots arrived at the Board of Elections during the now eliminated 4-day grace period. Every vote matters, and this is particularly true for elections with a small number of voters, such as for the school board here in Bowling Green. Voting should not be reserved for people who can walk with ease and stand for hours to cast a vote.
Debbie Dalke
Bowling Green
