“We’re trying to make sure we have good, identifiable, not only features but data, that helps the individual voter and helps boards of elections to ensure that that person is a valid elector,” said Rep. Bernie Willis, R-Springfield.
Willis answered an hour’s worth of questions about the bill Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee — mostly from disapproving House Democrats — alongside primary cosponsor Rep. Bob Peterson, R-Washington Courthouse.
Democrats questioned the burden such a law might put on absentee voters.
Under H.B. 472, absentee ballots must be accompanied by a scan of the voter’s valid state ID, which Democrats pointed out could be tough to obtain for elderly Ohioans, who often vote by mail and might not have a photocopier.
On this point, Peterson conceded that “we certainly will find ways to make sure that everybody who’s registered to vote will have the opportunity to vote.”
Largely, Democrats characterized the bill as a tool for voter suppression.
“That’s definitely not the intention,” Willis told reporters Wednesday. “I think both of us can say that our goal is to get as many valid electors in the system so they can vote.”
Willis added that it’s the state’s responsibility to ensure the state’s registered voter database is as “correct as it can be” and to give local boards of elections greater certainty in assessing whether or not a person’s registration is valid.
Willis believes the bill would be helpful to that end, because, if his bill were to become law, it would require that local boards of elections workers compare a prospective voter’s ID with the ID that they used to register to vote.
The sponsors said the bill was developed in consultation with the Ohio Secretary of State and various local boards of elections throughout Ohio.
The bill contains a provision that allows Ohioans who have a religious objection to being photographed to register, and vote absentee, using the last four digits of their Social Security number as proof of their identity.
Cincinnati Democrat Rep. Dani Isaacsohn asserted that if the last four digits of a Social Security number is enough to register and certify some Ohioans, then it ought to be enough for every Ohioan.
“If we can trust that registration… What is inherently different about the security of their registration versus someone who doesn’t have a religious objection and therefore needs a picture taken? What is different about those people, inherently?” Isaacsohn asked.
In response, Peterson argued that the presence of some people’s religious objections shouldn’t stop the state from trying to adopt higher standards of election safety.
“The high standards… is photo ID, matching signatures, everything that’s available to us today to make sure that that person is who they say they are,” Peterson said.
Throughout their sponsor testimony and the interview with reporters afterward, Willis and Peterson made it clear they were willing to work across the aisle to both shore up election fraud concerns and ensure that as many Ohioans as legally possible can still register to vote.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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