Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that issues various amendments to state election law, including, but not limited to, eliminating same day voter registration and application for absentee ballots, authorizing county Board of Elections to increase the number of polling places for early voting, and authorizing voters to register with a political party on a voter registration form.

Highlights:

-Repeals the period in which voters may dually register to vote and apply for an absentee ballot by amending the deadline for absentee ballots to be printed and ready for use as follows (Sec. 1):

-Existing law: for all ballots, 35 days before the election; and -New law:
-For in-person absentee voters: 20 days before an election; -For absentee voters, other than in-person absentee voters, overseas voters, and absent uniformed services voters, 28 days before the election; and -For overseas voters and absent uniformed services voters, 45 days before an election.

-Specifies that in-person absentee voting ends at 5 PM on the Saturday before the election (Sec. 1). -Increases the number of possible locations a county Board of Elections may establish for early voting from 1 to 3, provided a majority of the Board voted to expand beyond 1 location, and requires that multiple early voting locations be in geographically diverse places in the county (Sec. 1). -Establishes the following guidelines for a county Board of Elections when appointing poll workers if they opt to use multiple polling places (Sec. 1):

-For the first precinct, 4 election judges shall be appointed with not more than half of them being members of the same political party; -For every subsequent precinct, 2 election judges shall be appointed, each being registered with different political parties; and -One of these election judges shall be appointed as the single presiding judge for that polling place, and shall be a member of the political party whose candidate for governor received the highest number of votes in the most recent General Election.

-Requires the Secretary of State and the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to coordinate and compare databases in order to identify any driver's license number, social security number, or date of birth mismatches between voter registration forms and motor vehicle records, and if such discrepancy is found, to notify both the county Board of Elections and the voter, and give the voter the opportunity to verify or correct the information (Sec. 1). -Specifies that a driver's license number, social security number, or date of birth mismatch between voter registration forms, motor vehicle records, and social security records shall not be the sole basis for removing a voter from the statewide database (Sec. 1). -Authorizes overseas and armed services voters to register or update their registration electronically (Sec. 1). -Prohibits the Secretary of State from refusing to accept a ballot completed by an eligible armed services or overseas voter due to any notary, paper weight, paper type and size, envelope weight, or envelope type and size requirements (Sec. 1). -Establishes the following guidelines for rectifying missing voter information (Sec. 1):

-County Board of Elections must notify the voter within 20 days after the election canvas; -Voters may providing missing information by phone, email, fax, or in person; -Voters whose registration form is missing a signature may provide a signed statement certifying that they completed a voter registration form; -If missing information is collected 15 days prior to the election, the voter will be considered registered as of the date of the initial application; and -Any missing information need to complete registration that appears on a voter's provisional ballot will be sufficient to make corrections, and the voter will be registered as of the date of the initial application, and the otherwise eligible provisional ballot will be counted.

-Requires the Secretary of State to include the following additional information on voter registration forms (Sec. 1):

-Section for the voter to declare his or her party affiliation, of which shall be labeled "optional"; and -Qualifications for registering to vote in Ohio.

-Authorizes voters to provide any missing information on a returned absentee envelope that contains a ballot up to 10 days after the election (Sec. 1). -Prohibits individuals from running in a primary election if they were registered with another party within the current calendar year, or in the 2 preceding calendar years (Sec. 1). -Amends the filing deadline for candidates from 75 days to 90 days before the election, including, but not limited to, U.S. Presidential candidates running in a primary, candidates running as independents in a primary, and all other candidates running in a General Election (Sec. 1). -Amends the certification deadline for all questions and issues appearing on the ballot in a General Election from 75 days to 90 days before an election, including those limited to cities, townships, and villages (Sec. 1). -Amends electioneering boundaries as follows (Sec. 1):

-Existing law: no campaigning within the area between the polling place the U.S. flags on the thoroughfares and walkways leading to the polling place, and if the line of voters waiting to vote extends beyond those flags, within 10 feet of a voter standing in line; and -New law: no campaigning within 50 feet of the entrance of a polling place.

-Prohibits any campaign, individual, or other group congregating outside of a polling place from disrupting the normal flow of traffic to the polling place entrance, or to the entrance of any business or organization in the vicinity (Sec. 1). -Requires any individual convicted of a sexual offense but still eligible to vote and whose polling place is located in a school to either vote absentee or at the county elections office (Sec. 1). -Authorizes the Department of Administrative Services to enter into purchasing contracts with election supply vendors for supplies used by state Boards of Elections, and specifies that any transactions made through this purchasing program are exempt from competitive selection procedures otherwise required by law (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text