Rep. Joe Miller: Ohio Republicans Place New Burdens on Voters by Adding Unnecessary Hurdles to the Voting Process

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Joe Miller (D-Amherst) Wednesday condemned the passage of anti-voter Senate Bill (SB) 293 which places new burdens on voters by adding unnecessary hurdles to the voting process and shortening the time available for Ohioans to make their voices heard.

“SB 293 disregards the challenges to vote by the elderly, service members, veterans, the disabled, the homebound, and those lacking transportation to the polls. In a democratic republic, the more voices that are heard, the healthier and more vibrant it becomes,” said Rep. Joe Miller. “If the state wants every vote to be counted on Election Day, Republicans should have focused on real solutions like moving up the mail in date while providing more drop boxes so registered citizens would have the opportunity to make their voices heard. Instead, SB 293 is yet another example of restricting Ohioans’ ability to vote in the long line of attacks on that sacred right.

The bill, which moved with lightning speed through the General Assembly and was heavily amended only the day before passage, would throw out absentee ballots because the mail is late. Current law allows for a grace period for mailed absentee ballots to arrive after election day. The bill eliminates this grace period and says all ballots must arrive by 7:30pm on election day. This creates additional, unnecessary barriers to people who simply want to legally exercise their right to vote and may not be able to physically make it to their polling location. In 2024, nearly 1 million Ohioans voted by absentee mail-in ballot or absentee drop box and thousands would have not counted under this law.  

It also creates vague and problematic procedures that could cancel registrations when other agencies’ databases reflect different information or records, whether or not those records are factually correct. Without clean procedures in place, Ohioans could easily be disenfranchised when one of the multiple databases that contain their information have inaccurate or out-of-date information.