In 2004 the eyes of the nation were on Ohio to determine who would be the next president of the United States. But there was a disturbing story coming from Knox County. Students at Kenyon College waited in line for up to 10 hours to cast their ballot. The — two voting machines for nearly 1,300 voters. The last person cast their ballot at 4am. These voters were able to exercise their franchise because a judge, after reviewing the situation, ordered that the polling place remain open.
Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. In Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland, voters waited for up to 12 hours to vote for a multitude of reasons that included poorly trained poll workers, power outages, broken voting machines and improper identification of polling locations. Fortunately, in these jurisdictions as in Knox County, courts were able to step in, based on credible evidence that voters would be denied their right to vote, and order the polling places to remain open.
Overnight, Ohio’s backwards voting laws and practices were thrust into the national spotlight. But instead of turning this national embarrassment into an opportunity to become a leader in access to the ballot and improve our voting process, the Republican-dominated Ohio legislature has done nothing to improve the situation and in many respects made it worse.
Among other things, they have eliminated the opportunity to register and vote on the same day, dragged their feet on passing online voter registration, required greater levels of identification when voting, and reduced the number of locations for and hours of early voting — just to name a few.
Since 2004, nearly every election cycle has been dogged with problems that have required the courts to step in it ensure that every Ohioan has the opportunity to participate in the election process. Now, Republican lawmakers are trying to effectively do away with one of the key options that insure voting rights to all.
Senate Bill 296 was recently introduced in the Ohio Senate. Its proponents suggest that it will standardize the process for dealing with emergencies that may require a polling location to remain open pass 7:30pm. In reality, what it does is significantly limit the ability to obtain a court order to keep the polls open when voters are being denied access to the ballot box — either by long lines, machine malfunctions, poll worker problems, acts of God, or a multitude of other legitimate reasons that could hold up the voting process.
Under the prosed law, an Ohioan can still go to court to keep the polls open, but now that court order would only secure that petitioner his or her individual right to vote — not all of those people standing in line. The rest of the people would be on their own to get their own order. This process would flood the courts with individual cases looking for help, bogging down the system and hamstringing the hands of justice — that is, assuming that each one of those disenfranchised voters could maneuver the system.
Additionally, the bill would require an Ohioan looking to the courts for help voting to pay a cash bond, meaning they would front the money to keep the pools open — a major hurdle for even affluent voters and something that clearly smacks of being a poll tax.
As we approach the 2016 November election, the eyes of the nation will once again turn to Ohio. It is my sincere hope that the nation sees a record number of Ohioans participating in the democratic process, not long lines of voters trying to cast their vote or people turned away from the polls.
There is a reason for the established process that provides for a court to order polling places to stay open in emergency situations. This ability to seek a remedy in case of emergencies and unforeseen situations on Election Day is a vital part of our voting process. Under Senate Bill 296 the Ohio legislature would effectively take that away. It’s obvious to me, to the League of Women Voters and to many others around the state of Ohio that our process of obtaining a court order to keep the polls open ain’t broke — so Ohio legislature — don’t try to fix it. Defeat Senate Bill 296.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection and was recently appointed to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
One Response to “Ohio Senate Bill 296 – Bad for Voters – Bad for Ohio by C. Ellen Connally”
Kathleen Bradley
Thank you for bringing this terrible idea to our attention.