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SUMMARY OF CHANGES MADE TO H.B. 194 BY H.B. 224as of 7/13/2011

EMERGENCY CLAUSE:The emergency clause in H.B. 224 applies only tosections 3 and 4 of H.B. 224 which provide that when H.B. 194 becomes

effective, all provisions of H.B. 194 that require a full Social Security numberon any document required of a voter shall require only the last four digits ofthe electors Social Security Number to be provided.

Also of note, the substantive amendments made by H.B. 224 are not subjectto the emergency clause and do not become law before H.B. 194s effectivedate of September 30, 2011. The only law to go into effect when theGovernor signs H.B. 224 is Section 3 (and 4), because section 3specifies that H.B. 194s language about full social security numberwill not take effect when that language (which is the subject of thereferendum) is to become effective.

MAJOR ARGUMENTS THAT WILL BE MADE AGAINST THEREFERENDUM EFFORT WITH THE CHANGES OF H.B. 224:

1. privacy is protected by restoring the requirement for only 4 digits ofthe Social Security Number,

2. provisional voting will be simpler, and provisional ballots will not beprocessed for 10 days after the election,

3. voter fraud will be thwarted by eliminating online voter registration.

PROBLEMS WITH THESE ARGUMENTS:

1. PROVISIONAL VOTING WILL WORK TO DISENFRANCHISE VOTERS,BECAUSE THE REQUIRED AFFIRMATION FOR PROVISIONAL VOTINGREQUIRES A VOTER TO HAVE ID (this narrows current law): both billsstill require that provisional ballots contain all of the followinginformation in an accompanying affirmation:

printed name and signature,

date of birth;

VOTER ID (one of the following):a) statement of last 4 digits of Social Security Number,b) drivers license number,c) state ID number, or

d) an affirmative notation that voter ID (currently state orfederal picture ID, utility bill, bank statement governmentcheck, paycheck or other government document) wasprovided,

residence address,

statement that voter is registered in the jurisdiction in which theprovisional ballot is being voted,

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statement of eligibility to vote provisionally in the election.2. Both bills now exclude a voter from voting if none of the forms of

voter ID above are stated in the affirmation or provided to the pollworker. (The voter cannot sign an affirmation if no ID is provided, andthe poll worker shall not record any of the information required to be

provided by the affirmation . . . and shall explain to the individual thatthe provisional ballot will not be counted. R.C. 3501.181(B)(1)(b)),

3. Later, more restrictive voter ID laws (see Section 8 of H.B. 194) wouldeliminate massive amounts of voters who could neither provide ID nortruthfully sign an affirmation that they had provided the required ID,

4. While H.B. 224 allows election officials to determine eligibility for aprovisional ballot to be counted for a 10-day period after an election,there is no language that allows a voter to supplyadditionalinformation such as missing ID after Election Day; and because thevoter could not sign the affirmation and would be told his or her votewould not be counted (nor their information recorded by the poll

worker), there is likely no provisional ballot for which to determineeligibility,

5. Online voter registration is currently offered and successfully used inArizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Oregon, Utah andWashington (not applicable in North Dakota with election dayregistration).

CHANGES MADE BY H.B. 224 TO H.B. 194 ARE LIMITED AND DO NOTSIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE BILL:Ifthe H.B. 194 referendum effort is successful (filed September 29, 2011 withat least 231,154 signatures), H.B. 194 will be prevented from going into

effect. The changes added to the H.B. 194 language by H.B. 224 arelimited. Since H.B. 224 amends the not-yet-effective language of H.B. 194,there may be a requirement to harmonize the new law (H.B. 224) when ittakes effect, with current law that will remain in place with the filing of thereferendum petition.(See: R.C. 1.52 Amendments are irreconcilable onlywhen changes made by each cannot reasonably be put into simultaneousoperation.)However, many of the changes imposed on H.B. 194 by H.B. 224simply delete new language in H.B. 194 or to reinsert old language fromcurrent law,all of which revert the H.B. 194 language to current law, whichwill be the state of the law with successful referendum petition filing.

In short, the changes in H.B. 224 do not significantly affect thereferendum, except to make moot certain arguments for thepurposes of referendum about the use of the full Social SecurityNumber and online voter registration.The original talking points for H.B.194 are reproduced below with language for affected provisions strickenthrough and new language added by H.B. 224 appearing in all capital letters.

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http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp1.52http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp1.52

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For current reporting on the effects of H.B. 224 on H.B. 194, see:http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakers-axe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038

H.B. 224S CHANGES TO H.B. 194 ARE REFLECTED WITH STRIKE-THROUGHS AND CAPITAL LETTERS AS NOTED BELOW:1. Size of voting precincts: voting precincts in cities but not rural areas would

be required by law to be made bigger in many cases, which could result inlonger lines on Election Day in cities,

2. Poll workers:poll workers would not be required to tell a voter they are inthe wrong precinct and that their ballot is not counted if they are,

3. Advantages for corporations:rules would be struck down and laws wouldbe softened that regulate corporations activities in campaigns,

4. Citizen petition drives:the time needed to get enough signatures for astatewide petition such as this one would be shortened,

5. Technical reasons not to count votes:more technical reasons would becreated to keep ballots from being counted, especially when voters makemistakes, like putting the current year in your birth date for an absenteeballot,

6. Government invading your privacy and identity theft:the governmentwould be using your full Social Security number on documents like provisionaland absentee ballot envelopes, with privacy not guaranteed,

7. Using your Social Security number to take you off the rolls: the statewould be able to take your DRIVERS LICENSE OR STATE ID INFORMATIONAND/OR THE LAST FOUR DIGITS OF YOUR Social Security number and otherprivate information about you and compare it with other government recordsto take you off the voting rolls, even if it finds new information and could

correct your information for you,8. Only certain people can register to vote online: you would be allowedto register to vote online but only if you have a drivers license or state IDcard and gave your whole social security number,

9. Taking away time to correct your ballot: if you voted a provisional ballot,you would not get the 10 days you now have after the election to giveadditional information so your vote can be counted,EVEN THOUGH ELECTIONOFFICIALS COULD TAKE 10 DAYS TO DETERMINE IF YOU MET REQUIREMENTSBY CHECKING THEIR OWN RECORDS

10. Narrowing of Voter ID Requirements: IF YOU DONT HAVE ID ONELECTION DAY AND DONT OR CANT SUPPLY THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOURSOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, YOU CANNOT SIGN A REQUIRED AFFIRMATION

FOR PROVISIONAL VOTING,DENYING YOU YOUR VOTE,11. Shortening early voting and no Sunday voting:you would only

have 3 weeks (not 5) to vote absentee by mail before Election Day; if youvote absentee in person, you only have 2 weeks, and there would be noSunday voting,

12. Long lines not allowed to interfere with nearby business:even ifthere is a long line of voters, the law would now ban that line from interferingwith a nearby business,

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http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakers-axe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakers-axe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakers-axe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakers-axe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038

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13. Allows for more restrictive voter ID in the future: if morerestrictive voter ID requirements become law, this bill says they will control,no matter what.

7/13/11

FairElectionsOhio@gmail.com

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