Ohio election reform amendment rejected again for ‘highly misleading title’
View a previous report on Ohioans being purged from voter rolls in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A petition summary for an election reform constitutional amendment has again been rejected by the Attorney General for having a misleading title.
A group of civil rights organizations seeking to constitutionally enshrine election law changes must try for a third time after Attorney General Dave Yost rejected their second petition summary on Thursday. In a letter to the coalition, Yost said the proposed "Voters Bill of Rights" had a "highly misleading and misrepresentative" title that could not appear on the ballot.
Yost acknowledged that his office has "not always rigorously evaluated" the fairness or accuracy of petition summary titles. But he argued that the Ohio Supreme Court has established that the title of a proposed ballot initiative is significant information people rely on when casting their vote.
The proposed amendment, backed by groups including the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Ohio NAACP, would constitutionally enshrine multiple election policies, including:
- Automatic voter registration upon applying for or renewing a driver’s license or state ID
- Same-day voter registration and same-day registration updating
- Elimination of voter roll purges
The proposed amendment also would allow local boards of elections to expand early voting operations, including through implementing additional early in-person hours and adding more early voting centers and ballot drop boxes than the one per county currently allowed.
Yost said that the phrase "Bill of Rights" suggests the "articulation of specific, discrete rights" that citizens can enforce against the government. While the amendment does lay out voter rights, multiple provisions also concern the state's election processes and officials' discretion to enforce those processes, failing to create any enforceable right, Yost said.
In rejecting the summary, Yost said it had become "commonplace to use the language of advocacy and advertising" in proposed ballot initiatives.
"At least on the formal ballot, the language should be as neutral as possible," Yost said. "This office will take a skeptical view of such efforts in its reviews, regardless of which political tribe may be offering its proposal to the sovereign people."
In late December. Yost rejected the groups' first attempt, titled the "Safe and Fair Elections” amendment, for having a similarly misleading title. He also said there were multiple omissions that would render the amendment confusing to voters.
In a statement on Thursday, the coalition backing the amendment said it was "dismayed" that Yost rejected its second attempt, but that it will continue trying to place the amendment on the ballot.
"Voting is our most fundamental American right that each and every one of us wants and deserves to exercise," the statement read. "The Attorney General has shown a repeated lack of support for this popular amendment that will guarantee an equal path to the ballot box for all Ohioans."
Should the coalition submit another petition summary that Yost accepts, it will be forwarded to the Ohio Ballot Board for review. The Ohio Ballot Board is chaired by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who previously called the proposed amendment a "direct assault on the security of Ohio elections.
Read the proposed amendment and Yost's rejection letter below.