Rep. Sweeney: Ohio Republicans Fear Electoral Accountability, Make Voting Harder for Ohioans in Next Election

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) Wednesday condemned the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 293, an anti-voter bill that makes it harder for eligible Ohio voters to cast their ballot by shortening the window in which mailed ballots may arrive and still count.

“Just two weeks after voters delivered major victories for local Democratic candidates across Ohio—and as voters across the country rejected Trump’s Republican party in statewide elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia—the Republican supermajority in Columbus is responding with fear rather than leadership,” said Rep. Sweeney. “Instead of listening to Ohioans and pursuing policies that are popular or address the affordability crisis, Republican lawmakers are rushing through yet another restrictive voting bill that erects new barriers to the ballot box in a desperate attempt to maintain their grip on power. This is what politicians do when they know their agenda is unpopular: they cling to power by attacking our freedom to vote.”

SB 293, which was rushed through the committee process with several major amendments added at the last minute without an opportunity for proper vetting or opposition testimony, would have local Boards of Election throw out absentee ballots when the mailman is running behind. 

The bill eliminates the current 4-day waiting period that allows for late-arriving absentee ballots to be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Under SB 293, all mail-in ballots will now have to arrive at the Board of Election office by 7:30pm on Election Day. In 2024, nearly 1 million Ohioans cast a vote-by-mail ballot, and thousands of those ballots would not have counted under this law.  

SB 293 also creates new, unvetted procedures that would allow for the cancellation of voter registrations when databases maintained by other agencies contain different information without first verifying the accuracy of the record. Under these new procedures, eligible Ohio voters may find themselves unable to vote on Election Day if their voter registration was erroneously removed as a result of inaccurate or out-of-date information.

SB 293 now heads to the governor’s office for signature.