Buckeye Reporter

The Ohio House and Senate on Thursday sent Gov. Mike DeWine legislation that requires voters to present a photo ID when voting in person and some form of identification when voting by mail.

DeWine, a Republican, said that he would read the legislation before deciding whether to sign it into law.

Election integrity advocate Ken Cuccinelli, national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former attorney general of Virginia, believes the governor should sign the bill without delay, but also urged the Legislature to do more with respect to mail ballots and drop boxes.

“While the mass-mailing of unsolicited absentee ballot applications remains anathema to election integrity, we are pleased that the Legislature has at least added a constructive reporting requirement shining a light on this unsecure election administration practice,” he told the Buckeye Reporter in an email.

“Unfortunately, in reality this provision fails to establish a threshold of transparency critical to adequate oversight and ultimately earning the trust of voters, who should be provided access to regularly updated absentee voting data beginning the moment applications are mailed,” Cuccinelli added. “It’s our hope that the Legislature will continue to address this important matter while pursuing additional reforms voters deserve, including ending ballot trafficking, requiring absentee ballots to be received by the time polls are closed on election night, and 24/7 video surveillance for drop boxes—to the extent they are not entirely banned—in the coming legislative session.”

The measure would require a voter to present a state-issued photo ID, U.S. passport, or military ID to cast their ballot in-person.

The bill would also require those voting by mail to provide a copy of their photo ID, their Ohio driver’s license or ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number. In addition, it requires that completed mail-in ballots arrive within four days of the election, instead of 10.

Numerous polls have shown that voters overwhelmingly support voter ID.

An April 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center showed that 76% of voters support “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.”

A March 2021 poll by the Honest Elections Project showed 77% of voters, including Republicans (92%), Independents (75%), and Democrats (63%), support requiring voter I.D.

And a June 2021 Monmouth University poll showed that 80% of U.S. citizens are in favor of voter ID requirements.