COLUMBUS – A proposal by Ohio’s elections chief to attach postage to every mail-in ballot has failed to gain crucial approval from a Republican-controlled state panel.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose called the decision by the Ohio Controlling Board a “missed opportunity.”
LaRose’s fellow Republicans on the powerful Controlling Board led the charge against him Monday by voting 4-2 along party lines to reject the request, making it all but impossible for ballots to be stamped in time for November’s election.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose discusses absentee ballots, mail-in voting and other topics
“Today was another missed opportunity by the legislature to make a small change, without an impact on our state budget, that would yield a big improvement,” LaRose said in a statement released by his office following the vote.
The request represented a last-ditch effort by LaRose after a package of election changes he proposed in May stalled in the GOP-led Legislature.
The panel’s GOP members argued LaRose first needed legislative authority to stamp the ballots, but Democrats called the move a “stunt” and claim LaRose has the authority to pay for the postage without the permission of the General Assembly or the Controlling Board.
“The Secretary of State does not need additional legislative approval to make this happen. We urge Sec. LaRose to use existing federal funds to ensure Ohioans have access to absentee ballots this fall,” said House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron).
“Ohio has a Secretary of State who talks a good game to the press about doing the right thing, but who often seems to find an excuse not to do it. Either he made up yet another excuse not to make voting easier, or he utterly failed to convince a few of his fellow Republicans not to run the typical GOP voter suppression playbook,” said Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland).
LaRose says his office provided nearly $11 million of federal funds to county boards of elections and another $1.5 million of CARES Act money to send absentee ballot request forms to eligible voters and the remaining federal funds are “not nearly sufficient to pay for statewide return postage.”