(Photo: Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
Republican lawmakers in Ohio have introduced legislation that limits the mail-in deadline, requiring all absentee ballots to reach election officials before polls close. Some veterans have expressed concerns that it could prevent ballots from being counted in the military and abroad.
“That feeling of when your country calls you, you leave,” said Army veteran Adam Miller.
Joining the military is one of the most patriotic things an Ohioan can do, he said, but it’s also participating in the democratic process.
“The ability to vote is one of the basic freedoms that patriots fought for,” he said.
If you are overseas or in another country, the only way to vote is by mail – which is what Miller did when he was fighting in the Middle East.
“It takes three or four weeks to get back to the United States,” said Miller, a former Democratic state legislator.
When you’re abroad, he said, “voting is saving grace.”
Currently, ballots will still be counted if they are returned within four days of the election, as long as they are mailed before Election Day.
In 2023, a massive election amendment bill moved the deadline from the seventh day after the election to the fourth.
But state lawmakers want to change that.
“We want to make sure that something as valuable as your vote is done thoroughly and that our voters know we are doing the right thing,” said Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green.
Gavarone and State Senator Andrew Brenner of Delaware introduced Senate Bill No. 293requiring all ballots to be returned before polls close on election night. Gavarone said sometimes ballots are received without a postmark, so they may not be counted.
“Your ballot must be received on Election Day, on or before the same day, so there is no ambiguity,” Gavarone said.
Brenner said he worked on the bill with Secretary of State Frank LaRose and his team.
“The Legislature has the power to decide when, where and how elections are held. Our office is reviewing the legislation and will work with the Legislature throughout the process,” said LaRose spokesman Ben Kindel. “Ultimately, this is not a new idea and Ohio would join most other states.”
Miller and other veterans argued it could disenfranchise anyone who votes by mail, especially military personnel. About 17,000 of the more than 1 million Ohioans who voted by mail in the 2024 presidential election were military, according to state data. In total, almost 10,000 ballots arrived in the four days after the election.
In many local races and some convention races, this can impact the outcome.
“Often it ends up being a half-dozen votes, single-digit votes,” Miller said of local races.
Brenner explained that thanks to federal law, foreign militaries already have an extended window to vote, and they receive their ballots weeks before early voting begins domestically.
“They get that extra couple of weeks,” Brenner said. “I think it’s more than fair to the military (voters) and ultimately treats all (voters) the same way.”
Miller said this is another tactic to make voting more arduous.
The Board of Elections reported nearly 590,000 ballots were cast in Cuyahoga County’s November 2024 election. About 230,000 people were sent by post. Of these, 113 were considered invalid due to the lack of a postmark – representing 0.019% of all votes.
Arguing that every vote should count, Miller argued that limiting the number of mail-in voters based on less than the percentage missing postmarks is unfair.
“We owe it to those Ohioans who serve, especially those Ohioans who work against Uncle Sam, to know that their local votes will be counted up until the time they vote,” Miller said.
He added that the bill’s sponsors, who are not veterans, are misled.
“This makes it almost certain that every service member’s right to vote will be terminated,” he said.
Brenner said lawmakers want to have it in place before the 2026 elections. The bill was scheduled to go to its first session on Tuesday.
Some Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, argue that all mail-in voting should be banned. The president’s argument rests on baseless claims of fraud.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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