In a mad dash before summer recess, Ohio lawmakers ratified a resolution Wednesday to ask Ohioans this November whether voter ID should be in their state constitution.
And the GOP-majority legislature advanced major, related modifications of mail-in voting to an unrelated bill, House Bill 472, originally meant to get homeless Ohioans identification cards.
HB 472 still needs Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature. DeWine has not said whether he will sign it.
Photo ID is already required for early voting and on Election Day, and it has been since 2023, but the Ohio GOP has said the law they fought to DeWine’s desk three years ago isn’t enough. They want voters to decide whether to codify some of the 2023 statute.
Ohioans get the last word on how the constitution gets amended. They generally need a state driver’s license or ID card, a United States passport or passport card or a military ID to vote early or to vote on Election Day. This would make that harder to change.
But Senate Joint Resolution 10 did not address the current, more lenient ID requirements to vote by mail. That frustrated some conservative members, which led to last-minute amendments to HB 472.
Legislative Democrats said those were unneeded and unwanted.
The effort got the attention of President Donald Trump, who urged the Ohio House GOP to get it onto the November ballot. “I will be watching,” Trump said Monday night on Truth Social.
This is breaking news. Check back for more.
