State Representative Jim Buchy

Elections Reforms Promote Fairness and Continuity

A recurring focus in the Ohio House of Representatives since I returned in 2011 has been reforming the state’s election systems. We have enacted a number of reforms to try and bring more continuity and fairness to the way ballots are cast here in Ohio.

Most recently, the House passed a series of bills directed specifically at issues like early voting and absentee ballots. The goal throughout the process was trying to find ways to maintain easy access for Ohioans to cast their ballots, while giving some much-needed relief to local boards of elections so they could meet the challenges of preparing for upcoming elections.

Senate Bill 205 established uniform rules for how absentee ballots are mailed out, ensuring that voters in all 88 counties are treated equally and are provided with the same resources. The bill allows boards of elections to contact absentee voters if the voter’s identification envelope is either not completely filled out or contains potential errors. Upon being contacted, those voters have seven days during which to fix the error and turn the envelope back in.

The second important reform to clear the Ohio House was Senate Bill 238, which revised the number of days that Ohioans have to vote absentee. Under the Ohio Constitution, residents of the state have to register at least 30 days prior to an election. Current law also permitted 35 days for early voting, which obviously overlapped with the allotted time for registration.

This presented some problems for local boards of elections, namely administering the process of people registering and voting on the same day. SB 238 simply changed the period of time during which people can vote early down to 29 days, so as to not overlap the time to register and the time to vote. Absentee voting will begin the day after the deadline for registering to vote.

Even following these changes, the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures released a study that indicated Ohio will continue to be among the top 10 states in the country—and best in the region—for the number of early voting days.

Both bills passed through the House and Senate and have since been signed into law by Governor Kasich.

Voting is a fundamental right that gives citizens an opportunity to voice their opinions by choosing the people who represent them in government. This is a right that separates the United States from so many other countries in the world.

I am proud to live in a state that recognizes the importance of giving people ample opportunity to vote, while understanding the vital need to have an elections system that promotes fairness and integrity.

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