This is a public service announcement. Readers: Do any of you know someone who votes by mail? If so, that voter might worry that his or her ballot will get lost in the mail and ask you to deliver it to the Board of Elections. Warning: If you do this favor, you might be committing a felony.
Our state legislature created a law that specifies who can return an absentee ballot for another person. An absentee ballot can only be legally returned by one of these relatives: the spouse of the elector, the father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister of the whole or half blood, or the son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the elector… (Ohio Revised Code, Section 3509.05).
My 89-year-old mother-in-law can legally return my ballot, but I cannot legally return hers. Is your granddaughter asking to place your ballot in the official drop box? Lock her up! A blended family with an adopted child would need a flow chart to depict which family members can return a ballot for another family member.
This law is a serious burden for some people. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of a disabled woman who needed an unrelated caregiver to deliver her ballot. She won, and her caregiver can now assist her. Secretary of State Frank LaRose threw a tantrum over this challenge to his authority and issued a directive to make it even more difficult to return a ballot for someone else. People who are legally permitted to return a ballot must walk inside the building and go through security. After finding an election official, they will be given form No.12-P. They must specify whose ballot is being returned and attest that they are legally permitted to return it.
Before driving to the Board of Elections to deliver a ballot, call to make sure it will be open when you arrive, so you don’t have to make a return trip. If you tried to use the drop box after hours, you would see a notice forbidding anyone from using it to return another person’s ballot.
After completing your task, please call Secretary LaRose. Explain to him that he needs to rethink his claim that in Ohio, it is easy to vote and hard to cheat. If LaRose is worried about ballot harvesting, a less intrusive law would be to restrict the number of ballots a person can return.
Debbie Dalke
Bowling Green
