Since 2020, Republican lawmakers and Ohio election officials have enacted a series of changes that tightened the state’s voting laws and election procedures. Supporters say the changes improve election security and voter confidence. Critics argue they make voting more difficult, despite studies and election officials finding relatively few cases of voter fraud in Ohio and nationwide.

Changes to Voting Rules

One of the changes includes limiting the number of absentee ballot drop boxes to one location in each county. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose directed elections officials to implement this change, which was later written into a bill and voted into law by the Ohio legislature. The law also added requirements for security and surveillance of the drop boxes.

Another change is the requirement of photo ID for in-person voting. This means voters can no longer use utility bills, bank statements, or government checks as identification or proof of residency. The bill also requires voters to provide photo ID information when voting by mail beginning in 2027.

Additionally, Ohio lawmakers voted to require that absentee ballots be received by local elections officials before the polls close on Election Day in order to be counted. The law also created additional steps for elections officials to verify voter registrations.

Ohio removed hundreds of thousands of inactive voter registrations, which elections officials deemed routine maintenance. However, voting-rights advocates characterized it as a voter purge that included removing voters who appeared to register in other states.

Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.