SAVE Act is bad for Ohio

Serving as an election official, I put up a sign from Frank LaRose at the polling booth last November which stated: “Statewide results show a 99.99% accuracy rate in the 2020 election.” Reading your office website in 2022: “The accuracy rate should reinforce every voter’s belief that their vote mattered and was counted accurately.”

So no, it really isn’t about “cheating”. Despite these official reassurances, a continuous series of legislation has been enacted since 2020 to limit the number of citizens who are able to register and vote in Ohio – “suppression”. (Voting is not automatically a right for Ohio citizens.) These changes include removing registered voters from lists if they have not voted in the last several elections; removing secure ballot drop boxes across the state that were successfully used in previous accurate elections; requiring voters to register more than 30 days in advance of elections; rejecting mail-in ballots that are post-marked prior to the election but don’t reach the boards of elections by election day; reducing early voting hours and days; and requiring registered voters to present current driver’s licenses (or other government-issued ID’s) at the polling place. And more measures are currently in the works.

These voter suppression measures are among the most extreme in the nation.

These changes, as recommended by the Secretary of State office, have been enacted into law by a legislature that does not represent the voters of the state, due to the extreme gerrymandering of our voting districts. This is the result of the legislature repeatedly ignoring 2016 and 2018 constitutional amendments initiated, voted on, and overwhelmingly passed by the citizens of Ohio, for the purpose of having fair voting district maps.

When will conducting fair and open elections be the goal in Ohio?

Peter H. Maxwell

Westerville

SAVE Act is bad for Ohio

Frank LaRose is the ultimate Republican partisan in Ohio government, constantly sucking up to the Trump administration. And no matter what he says, I see the misnamed SAVE Act as nothing more than the current administration’s most brazen attempt to suppress the votes of anyone who might support Democratic nominees.

For instance, it will require the voter to have a copy of his/her birth certificate with their current name (a problem for women, who tend more heavily to vote Democratic) or go to the expense and hassle of having a valid passport — at minimum, a $130 charge per person older people such as my wife and I can ill afford. How is someone able to get a birth certificate with their married name? And I’ve read that getting a passport anymore may take as much as six months, thanks to the administration’s gutting of the government.

The SAVE Act’s only purpose is to save the Republican party from an intense blowout in November. It’s bad for the country and should fail in Congress.

Thomas Moon

West Carrollton