Title
To express disapproval of the actions taken by the Ohio General Assembly and the Ohio Secretary of State to restrict voter access to the ballot.
Body
WHEREAS, voters around Ohio, including Columbus, experienced substantial problems and long lines trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote during the 2004 general election; and
WHEREAS, following the 2004 general election, successful solutions to these problems were implemented; such as enabling citizens to register to vote or update their voting registration and casting their vote on the same day during early in-person voting at the boards of elections; and
WHEREAS, the State of Ohio also increased access to the ballot box by allowing each board of elections to set the hours suitable to each County’s needs based on the demands of their County, including establishing weekend voting hours and voting hours the days immediately preceding the election; and
WHEREAS, the State also encouraged early voting by giving boards of elections the ability in counties where such service is needed to send vote-by-mail applications to their citizens with postage-prepaid return envelopes; and
WHEREAS, the Ohio General Assembly, in recently passing Senate Bills 205, 216, and 238, has decided to eliminate or significantly restrict voting laws and increase restrictions to the ballot box; and
WHEREAS, the Ohio Secretary of State’s office has also restricted access to early voting by issuing Directive 2014-06, which further diminishes voting hours and eliminates Sunday voting; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to disapprove of the actions of the Ohio General Assembly and the Secretary of State and to call upon them to repeal these measures and to instead work on increasing citizens’ access to the ballot; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council disapproves of Ohio Senate Bills 205, 216, and 238, and Secretary of State Directive 2014-06 and urges the General Assembly to...
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