Ohio Republicans move to curb early, absentee voting
Source: Washington Post
Ohio Republicans move to curb early, absentee voting
By Reid Wilson
February 20 at 12:25 pm
Ohio voters will have shorter windows in which to cast early ballots under a proposed measure headed to Gov. John Kasich’s desk this week after the Republican-dominated legislature moved to cut almost a full week off the state’s early voting window.
The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would end what’s known as “golden week,” the six days of early voting during which a voter can both register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot at the same time.
Democrats and voting-rights groups opposed the measure, which passed the state House on a party-line vote. The Senate had passed an identical bill in November, so the proposal now heads to Kasich, who is likely to sign it.
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The two new measures are the latest in a years-long battle over election law changes that began when Kasich won office in 2010. The next year, the Republican-controlled legislature pushed through House Bill 194, which curtailed early voting and implemented stricter voter identification rules. Democrats and voting-rights advocates gathered enough signatures to get a repeal referendum on the ballot, but amid popular protests Republicans passed a follow-up measure that rolled back many of HB 194′s most controversial provisions.
If Kasich signs both new bills, they would go into effect in time for the 2014 midterm elections.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/02/20/ohio-republicans-move-to-curb-early-absentee-voting/
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