Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to sign a bill eliminating the four-day grace period for mailed-in absentee ballots to arrive at boards of elections has angered Democrats and voting rights groups. They’d called for him to veto the bill, saying thousands of voters could be disenfranchised if their ballots don't arrive on time through no fault of their own.
DeWine had said he wasn’t inclined to sign any new elections laws because Ohio runs good elections, but said Friday he reluctantly signed Senate Bill 293 because the U.S. Supreme Court could rule against Ohio’s grace period next year if it strikes down a similar law from Mississippi. DeWine said if that happens, there won't be time for lawmakers to correct that before the November election.
“Very disappointing not only to see him go back on his word, but just the ultimate outcome that Ohio voters are going to have to face as a result of the bill," said Collin Marozzi with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio in an interview.
SB 293 was introduced around the time the Trump administration contacted Ohio, threatening a lawsuit over the grace period. Earlier in the year, Trump had signed an executive order banning counting ballots that arrive after election day, saying "[f]ree, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic."
Marozzi said he's concerned about the impact on voters who mail in their ballots and about the workload on elections officials. But he's also frustrated about what he called the inconsistency of the bill, in that it doesn't achieve the stated goal of ensuring that election day is the final day for ballots to arrive and be counted.
"It still carves out our overseas service and and military voters, and it also still allows for the four-day provisional cure period," Marozzi said. "And nobody has explained what the difference between a ballot being received after being cast before election day, a ballot being received after election day within the four-day window, to where if you show up to vote in person on election day but you're still in line by the time the boards close you're able to still complete that vote."
At the event where DeWine announced he'd signed the bill, Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he suggested people who can should consider not voting by mail and that the state should start an education campaign to make sure voters are informed "that that four day period is gone. So people can make their decisions based upon that."
“I don't really have a lot of faith that a strong effort, at least by the state, will happen to get people's attention to this new restricted deadline. Voters don't know that they've lost four days for their mail-in ballot schedule," Marozzi said. "People are just going to be confused and confusion leads to being cynical, especially in today's election climate. So it seems like it's kind of teeing Ohio up to have an unfortunate set of circumstances."
In testimony in favor of SB 293 in November, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose told a House committee that around 8,000 ballots were received after election day in November 2024, but he noted that was 0.012% of the total number of ballots cast.
