‘Most Stringent’ Voter ID Effort to Make Moves in Ohio

The Ohio Senate is expected to take up a vote in the coming days on a resolution that could produce one of the strongest voter ID laws in the country.

“If this is passed by the voters, this will be the most stringent voter ID law in the country,” state Sen. Jane Timken, the sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 10, told the Daily Signal.

The resolution is currently in the Senate General Government Committee and is expecting a vote this week.

Although Ohio currently has voter ID, a state amendment would further solidify the law. Timken referenced Virginia as an example where voter ID was required until a later legislature “completely gutted that law and overturned it.”

Another reason for the proposed amendment, Timken argued, is to help voter participation. “The more voters trust the election, the more they participate,” she said.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for governor, has called for a ballot initiative that would enshrine voter ID in the state constitution. State lawmakers acted quickly to introduce such an effort.

Polling from Heritage Action shows that Ohioans overwhelmingly support voter ID. On requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, 71% of Ohio voters approve. Further, 69% say those who are not citizens of the United States should not vote in U.S. elections.

As the voter ID measure makes its way through the Legislature, there are concerns that voter ID for absentee mail-in ballots needs to be addressed as well. However, Timken expressed reservations about how it could be executed effectively.

“I understand the concern and the push to actually have a photo ID for absentee voting. My pushback on that is, in the day of AI, how do we actually ensure that if someone’s mailing in a photocopy of an alleged ID that it’s actually legitimate?” Timken said.

“In this constitutional amendment, we have alternative means of actual verification, which is the driver’s license number or the last four of the Social Security number, which are, again, verified by the boards of elections. So, they can look that up,” she added.

HB 577, the Secure Vote Act, would require photo ID for absentee ballots cast by mail.

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, told the Daily Signal he does not support the constitutional amendment “as it’s written currently,” because “it would codify the mail-in ballot loophole.”

“I believe that the amendment should be written in such a way that whatever laws the General Assembly prescribes, we have a consistent photo ID requirement,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson added that “voters strongly support photo ID for every voter.”

“That’s very simply what the constitutional amendment should achieve … that photo ID is required to vote in the state of Ohio.”

Marcell Strbich, who ran in the Republican primary for secretary of state but lost to Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, has been vocal about his views on the need for voter ID. He framed the current initiative as one that would involve only “partial photo ID enshrined in the Ohio constitution,” and he issued a call for lawmakers to “amend their voter ID resolution and pass a 100% photo ID law.”

Strbich spoke with The Windsor Report’s Jack Windsor on Monday and expressed his concerns about not including voter ID provisions for mail-in ballots.

“This is about making sure that what goes into the constitution of Ohio is equal and fair treatment of voters going forward,” he said.