COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — After Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a proposed amendment to change voting access back to the drawing board twice, the coalition of civil rights organizations that drafted it has replied with a lawsuit.
The group, which wants to enshrine election law changes in the state constitution with what it calls a “Voters Bill of Rights,” had its second petition rejected by Yost on Jan. 25. In a letter to the coalition, Yost said that the proposed amendment could not appear on the ballot, calling its title “highly misleading and misrepresentative.” He also rejected the group’s first version of the amendment in late December 2023.
“At least on the formal ballot, the language should be as neutral as possible,” Yost said when rejecting the summary. “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.”
The coalition — comprised of groups like the Ohio Chapter of the NAACP, the Ohio Unity Coalition, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative — claimed that Yost doesn’t have the authority to reject an amendment based on title alone in its lawsuit. The coalition also argued that the title for the amendment is fair, as they claim it is “quite literally, a bill of rights for Ohio’s voters.”
“The latest rejection of our proposed ballot summary from AG Yost’s office is nothing but a shameful abuse of power to stymie the right of Ohio citizens to propose amendments to the Ohio Constitution,” the coalition wrote.
When he rejected the amendment a second time, Yost admitted that his office has “not always rigorously evaluated” the fairness or accuracy of petition summary titles.
Election policies that would be enshrined by the “Voters Bill of Rights” include:
- 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
Under the proposed amendment, local boards of elections would be allowed to expand early voting operations. That includes implementing additional early in-person hours and adding more early voting centers and ballot drop boxes than the one per county currently allowed.
“Black and brown Ohioans have been leading this fight for our fundamental voting rights throughout history. All Ohioans – no matter their race – have only benefited from their efforts to protect our most basic freedoms,” the coalition said in the statement.
If Yost were to accept a petition summary from the coalition, it would be forwarded to the Ohio Ballot Board for review. The board is chaired by Secretary of State — and candidate for U.S. Senate — Frank LaRose. Previously, LaRose has called the proposed amendment a “direct assault on the security of Ohio elections.”
