🚨 Bad bill alert: We need you to call your Ohio Senator AND Ohio rep today to help stop HB 472, which could make voting impossible for thousands of eligible Ohio voters. Here's what's happening:
📃Until this week, HB 472 was a bipartisan bill focused on helping Ohioans experiencing homelessness obtain the documents they need to get an ID and participate in civic life. It was good!
😤 But now lawmakers are trying to replace it with a substitute bill that makes major changes to Ohio's vote-by-mail system.
🪢The new bill would require new photo ID for absentee voters, create a new online application system, and impose significant new responsibilities on county Boards of Elections.
Here's what's bad about the bill:
👵🏼 It will make voting by mail harder for a lot seniors, voters with disabilities, and other Ohioans who rely on absentee voting who can't easily get to the BMV
🗳️ It's an unfunded mandate for Boards of Elections, who are given huge new major new responsibilities to implement a brand new system with no clear funding plan
🧐 And this 121-page election bill was introduced with little time for the public—or even committee members—to review and understand it. It's being heard in House committee TODAY.
Election law is complicated. Changes this significant deserve careful review, public input, and thoughtful consideration before moving forward. Call your Ohio legislators—both your Ohio Senator AND your Ohio House member, to tell them to vote NO on HB 472 today. Find yours here:
lwvohio.org/contact-your-leg…