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Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
0/08/06
Ford
and Election Law Reform
Last
week you read in Senator Niehaus’ column how we have
taken the lead by meeting with Ford officials as well as
with the Lt. Governor, the State Department of
Development, and county and other state officials.
To many who have kept a watch on the manufacturing
industry in the
United States
the Batavia Ford plant action may not have come as a
surprise. While
it was definitely a disappointment, it was certainly not a
surprise. Since
Senator Niehaus covered our actions in last week’s
column, I will not address it this week but will report on
actions taken later. There
are a number of meetings set up in the coming weeks so
we’ll continue to remain hopeful.
Last
week in
Columbus
, the General Assembly put the finishing touches to a bill
that will have far reaching affects on
Ohio
’s democratic process. You
may have heard a lot about it so basically, here’s the
gist of the new law. To
make certain that
Ohio
’s elections are efficient and trustworthy the General
Assembly worked hard over the past year to craft and pass
legislation that would keep safe future elections. House
Bill 3 is successful in reforming our elections process by
affirming that each person who appears before the polls
has the ability to cast a ballot and that all legally cast
ballots will be fairly counted. This legislation also
makes numerous changes to
Ohio
’s election laws in an effort to streamline elections,
curb fraud and require more transparency from the
secretary of state. House Bill 3 which became Ohio law
shortly after passed by both Houses, safeguards the way
citizens seek to make changes to Ohio’s Constitution and
keeps the financing of campaigns open to the public.
After
hearing all the horror stories, it has become increasingly
important to the members of the 126th General
Assembly to prevent fraud and restore the integrity of the
electoral process. As
a result we were sure to include new voter identification
requirements in our legislation. By requiring that all
voters verify their identity when voting, we are
fulfilling the “one person – one vote principle” and
diminishing the opportunity for voter fraud. The voter ID
provision requires voters to show a form of
identification, which includes their name and address in
the form of a current and valid photo ID or military ID or
a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement,
government check, paycheck or other government document.
Voters who do not have any of the above forms of
identification will not be turned away from the polls.
They may provide the last four digits of their social
security number and vote provisionally, through a
handwritten ballot. Additionally, if a voter is unable to
provide the last four digits of their social security
number, the voter may sign an affirmation statement and
vote “provisionally”.
We
also endorsed measures that guarantee all legal votes are
properly counted. We worked to enact methods to ensure
provisional ballots are verified and counted based on
voter information and the information noted on signed
provisional ballot affirmations. These methods will now be
uniform and consistent across our state. Moreover,
provisional voters are now afforded an opportunity to
provide additional information to their county board of
election after the election to make sure that their ballot
is counted.
Safeguarding
Ohio
’s initiative and referendum procedures is also an
important part of securing fair elections. We have updated
the procedures in current
Ohio
election law. Because of controversy over petitions
circulated by non-residents in efforts to change
Ohio
’s Constitution, earlier in 2005, our election reform
bill holds that those who circulate petitions and obtain
signatures for ballot initiatives and referendums must be
Ohio
residents. Also, each proposed constitutional and ballot
question must have its own petition; petitions must be
filed with the original signatures and the signature
requirement for starting the initiative process has been
raised from 100 to 1,000. Steps have also been taken to
prevent any perception of bias in such proceedings by
restricting the participation of the secretary of state
and the attorney general in ballot issue committees,
including serving as campaign treasurer or in any other
official capacity.
Providing
everyone who wants to participate with the ability to cast
a ballot on election day, ensuring the legality of
elections, safeguarding the initiative and referendum
process and ensuring transparency in campaign financing
are all essential components of maintaining fair and
well-organized elections in Ohio. Through the
implementation of these reforms, we can protect the
process which allows Ohioans to participate in elections
and make certain the steadfast tradition of free and open
participation in government continues on.
Joe
Uecker
State
Representative
Ohio’s
66 District
Representing
Batavia, Goshen, Miami and Union Townships as well as the
Cities of Loveland and Milford and the Villages of Batavia
and Amelia.(614)
466-8134
District
Office (513)-248-2565
Website:
www.JoeUecker.com
Email:
Joe@JoeUecker.com |
