Suppress the vote?
Statehouse Republicans hope to use the cover of reform to make voting more burdensome for many Ohioans
Having defeated a package of constitutional amendments on the Nov. 8 statewide ballot, Ohio Republicans are still worked up about election reform. They want to pass some of their own. Too bad the same criticisms leveled at most of the proposals of Reform Ohio Now -- that they were needlessly complex solutions to illusory problems -- could just as easily be applied to a bill being discussed in the Republican-controlled Senate this week.
In a pre-Election Day effort to blunt momentum on Issue 2 (permitting no-fault absentee voting, no excuses needed), Republicans won passage of their own version. They loaded the bill with requirements that registered voters wishing to cast ballots early produce identification. An elections bill now moving through the Senate would impose similar identification requirements for all voters.
Any number of documents could be produced, from driver's licenses to paychecks, utility bills to Social Security numbers, which would allow voters to cast a provisional ballot, which would be counted later if the information can be verified.
C.J. Prentiss of Cleveland, the Senate minority leader, took a look at Republican colleague Jeff Jacobson's language and came to the right conclusion: The Republican measure is mostly about voter suppression. Prentiss and her Democratic colleagues have the better idea, making voting easier for those who are already properly registered.
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http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/editorial/13338910.htm