The gerrymandered Republican supermajority has an agenda to discourage voting from potential Democratic voters such as people of color, young people and college students. With Ohio’s Secretary of State deviously working to make registering and voting more complicated and difficult, it’s important for good citizens to do the work to make sure you are able to vote on Tue 11/3 — or earlier.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the official in charge of running the state’s elections, is working hard to earn his nickname “Secretary of Voter Suppression.” While boasting about how he’s run accessible and fraud-free elections, he also insists, in contradiction, that new measures are needed to prevent alleged “ballot harvesting” and “illegals” voting. To avoid being caught up in these new restrictions, it’s important to pay attention and make sure you are registered and have a plan to vote.
Recently LaRose purged the names of nearly 160,000 inactive and out-of-state voters from the Statewide Voter Registration Database. The Ohio Constitution provides that if you have not voted in at least one election in the past four years, your name can be removed from the list of registered voters, and you must re-register. So if you have not voted since the last presidential election, you need to re-register by October 7. A voter’s name can also be removed from the voter list if the voter filed a change-of-address form with the U.S. Postal Service or the Bureau of Motor Vehicles signaling they have moved.
So if you have done either of the above, need to update your registration, or if you just want to check to make sure you are still a registered voter, you can go to the website of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (or the board of elections in whatever county you live) and check your status. It will also tell you the location of your polling place and what will be on your ballot.
If you are not registered to vote, you can go to the Board of Elections website, go in person to the Board of Elections at East 30th and Euclid Avenue, or any public library branch and most state facilities to register. But you must update your voter registration or register to vote by Oct 7, 2024, to vote in the November election.
With what smacks to me as a clear case of voter suppression, LaRose has taken several steps to make it harder for Ohio voters to return their absentee ballots. He has also limited the times for in-person early voting.
Last year he issued a directive to all boards of elections around the state that limited the places where voters could return absentee ballots. Each county board of elections can only have one drop-off point for absentee ballots. This means that voters from around the county must go to their board of elections and drop off their absentee ballots if they are concerned about the mail, do not want to pay the postage to mail the ballot or want to make sure that their ballot is filed on time.
How hard would it be for the board of elections to place drop boxes at each county library or office of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles? But that would make it easier for voters, especially people who work long hours, to get their vote counted.
Then last month LaRose added a new obstacle when he issued a directive to circumvent the Ohio law that allows individuals to drop off absentee ballots for spouses and certain close relatives. LaRose, claiming concerns over security, now requires any person dropping off a ballot for a spouse or relative to park and go into the board of elections to sign an affidavit stating that the person whose ballot they deposited in the drop box is indeed a spouse or relative. Under the new directive, signs must be posted at each drop box informing the voters of this requirement. Anyone violating the rule could be charged with a fourth-degree felony,
Sound like voter intimidation and suppression?
The following is information regarding voting and voter registration:
The website of the Secretary of State has a listing of all places where you can register to vote.
You can go online to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and make sure you are registered and the location of your polling place and request an absentee ballot. It also provides information regarding times for in person early voting. You will be required to provide identification when you vote in person. The secretary of state provides a list of acceptable forms of ID, which includes an Ohio driver’s license, State of Ohio ID card, US passport or military ID. An expired driver’s license is not acceptable so you might want to check your driver’s license and/or state ID to make sure it is up to date. The name on the ID must substantially conform to the way the voter’s name on the poll list.
Make sure you are registered to vote and everyone in your family, circle of friends, workplace and everyone you know is registered. It’s possible to have too few votes — in parts of Greater Cleveland, Ohio’s voter turnout is weak —but you can never have too many votes.
We need a landslide victory for the Harris/Waltz ticket and for Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in November. So make sure you vote.
If you are a registered voter in Cuyahoga County, you can vote early at the Board of Elections headquarters, located at 2925 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland Ohio 44115 on the following days.
October 6-16 @ 8am-5pm
October 19-23 @ 8am-5pm
October 24 @ 8am-4pm
October 25 @ 1-5pm
October 26-30 @ 8am-7pm
October 31 @ 8am-4pm
November 1 @ 1-5pm
November 2 @ 8am-2pm
Free parking for all voters is available at 3100 Chester and 1835 E. 30thSt. Free ADA parking is available at 2925 Euclid. An auxiliary drop box will be located at the entrance to the Euclid lot, unless LaRose demands it be removed. You never know.
Don’t let the overreaching voter suppression of Ohio’s power-hungry elites take away your right to vote in a free and fair election. Make a plan to vote, and help your friends and family express their own political power.
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 is a former member of the Board of the Ohio History Connection, and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, and is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.