Title
To Condemn House Bill 680 of the 133 Ohio General Assembly and Call for Safe and Accessible Voting Options in the 2020 General Election
Body
WHEREAS, the right to vote in free and fair elections is the bedrock liberty that enables all other rights in our constitutional democracy;
WHEREAS, the global pandemic resulted in Ohio implementing a hasty and chaotic plan for the primary election that caused widespread confusion and disenfranchisement, allowing just 22.6% of eligible Ohioans to take part;
WHEREAS, in Franklin County, 3,564 absentee ballots and 1,337 provisional ballots were rejected, often for trivial and unacceptable reasons such as not-visible postmarks, mail delays, envelope issues, voting in-person at the county board of elections as directed, or not being registered likely as a result of being purged;
WHEREAS, in Franklin County, only 22.5% of eligible voters were able to cast a ballot, down from 41.1% in the equivalent election in 2016;
WHEREAS, the path to a safe and accessible November election is to maximize the secure options that Ohioans have to participate in our democracy by making voting by mail less burdensome, increasing options for in-person early voting especially in the most populous counties such as Franklin, and ensuring that Election Day polling places are available and sanitary;
WHEREAS, House Bill 680 included provisions contrary to these goals by making it harder to vote by mail by prohibiting prepaid postage for which federal funds are already available and making in-person voting more dangerous by prohibiting public health standards at Election Day polling places, and initially contained objectionable provisions such as reducing in-person early voting days and withholding absentee request forms, which is why it was opposed 80-1 in proponent-opponent testimony;
WHEREAS, Ohio has already experienced a drop in voter participation over the last decade, from the 7th highest in the country in 2008 to 29th in 201...
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