Ohio Governor Mike DeWine during his final State of the State address at the Ohio Statehouse in March 2026. (Pool photo by Adam Cairns, Columbus Dispatch.)
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have required absentee voters to provide a copy of their driver’s license or state ID starting in the November 2027 election.
“House Bill 472 would do nothing to discourage fraud, would add no real security, and would create an additional and significant burden on Ohioans who vote by mail,” DeWine said Wednesday in his veto message. The Republican governor has been in office for the past few months due to term limits.
“This bill is not needed because Ohio does a great job running its elections.”
Ohio Republicans passed Ohio House Bill 472 two weeks ago, after changes were made to the bill before parliamentarians left for their summer break.
The bill was originally intended to waive fees for copies of birth certificates for people experiencing homelessness, but that ultimately happened expanded to require absentee voters to show ID or when they request a mail-in ballot or submit it in person.
It would require the Ohio Secretary of State, the Board of Elections, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles and public libraries to provide free copies of voter photo IDs.
The secretary of state would also have to create a secure online portal where voters could apply for an absentee ballot starting September 3, 2027.
“HB 472 does not give election officials any new tools to combat fraud,” DeWine said in his veto message.
“Requiring a photo ID for mail-in voting does not provide election officials with the ability to verify that the photo ID matches the voter’s face and thus does not serve as an additional verification of the voter’s true identity.”
Ohio Reps. Christine Cockley, R-Columbus, and Jodi Salvo, R-Bolivar, introduced the original bill last year, which passed the House almost unanimously.
Ohio’s Republican senators added a mail-in voting section to the bill, saying it would strengthen election integrity.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Ohio.
Former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was born six indictments for voter fraud in 2024 after receiving 600 reports of alleged voter fraud from the Ohio Secretary of State.
The defendants were charged with voting on at least one occasion between 2008 and 2020, even though they were not U.S. citizens at the time.
Ohio law already requires citizens to provide photo ID before voting thanks to: bill passed by MPs in 2022 and went into effect in 2023. Ohio voters will have the chance to write this law into law constitution in the November vote.
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, called DeWine’s veto “disappointing.”
“Photo ID laws are supported by the vast majority of Ohio voters,” McColley said in a statement.
“HB 472, combined with a constitutional amendment introduced this fall requiring photo ID to vote, would give Ohioans confidence that their election system is the most secure in the nation.”
Ohio Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against the bill, arguing that changes to mail-in voting will make it more challenging for seniors who tend to vote by mail. Cockley was so frustrated with the changes made to the bill that her name was removed from it.
“People experiencing homelessness should not be used as political leverage,” Cockley said earlier this month during a debate in the House of Representatives. “A law intended to help individuals obtain the documents they need to stabilize their lives should not become a bargaining chip for unrelated political purposes.”
The Ohio Association of Elected Officials testified against the bill, saying many seniors and people with chronic health conditions or mobility limitations rely on mail-in voting.
The The Ohio Organizing Collaborative held a rally Wednesday afternoon asking DeWine to veto the bill.
“Vetoing this bill is extremely important,” he said Mary O’Boyle, founder of the Clinton County chapter of Parents United for Public Schools.
“We came to Columbus today because we take our voting power seriously. We demand that you do the right thing for Ohio voters. … House Bill 472 was initially intended to make voting more accessible, but several senators have decided to employ the bill to actually limit voting power.”
Union Grove Baptist Church pastor Derrick Holmes said the bill angers him.
“Democracy shouldn’t be this hard,” he said. “Too many have fought, too many have bled, too many have died, too many have sacrificed for the vote to be so difficult.”
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