Election reform amendment rejected by Ohio Attorney General as 'misleading'

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A petition for a constitutional amendment to enact a wide array of election reforms has been rejected by the Ohio Attorney General.

A statewide coalition seeking to place what it calls the "Safe and Fair Elections" amendment on voters' ballots must now go back to the drawing board, Attorney General Dave Yost announced Thursday. In rejecting the petition summary -- the certification of which is the first step in a lengthy process to the ballot -- Yost said he found multiple "omissions and misstatements," in the summary and found the name of the amendment unfair and untruthful.

The proposed amendment, backed by groups including the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and the Ohio NAACP, would constitutionally enshrine multiple election policies, including:

• Automatic voter registration upon applying for or renewing a driver's license or state ID
• Same-day voter registration and same-day registration updating
• Elimination of voter roll purges

The proposed amendment also would allow local boards of elections to expand early voting operations, including through implementing additional early in-person hours and adding more early voting centers and ballot drop boxes than the one per county currently allowed.

Yost pointed to multiple provisions he described as potentially misleading to voters, including references to "specified processes" for verifying voter identity. Yost argued the petition summary is written in a way that suggests the process for identity verification is the same at all stages, but the amendment itself outlines different policies for Election Day voting, absentee ballots and voter registration.

The title, an amendment for "Secure and Fair Elections," is also misleading, Yost wrote in his rejection letter. He said it does not fairly summarize the content of the amendment, which is a "compilation of specific election regulations."

"While the petitioners may believe that these proposed regulations may ultimately result in secure and fair elections, the title is completely untethered to the actual substance of the proposed amendment," Yost said.

He also highlighted several examples where he determined the summary omitted keywords that are included in the amendment, including in references to a voter's right to be "immediately" notified should they submit a deficient absentee ballot or application.

Shortly after the coalition submitted the petition summary on Dec. 19, Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a statement sharply criticizing the proposal as a "direct assault" on the security of Ohio elections.

"I predicted months ago that radical interests are preparing to jam their extreme agendas into our state constitution because they can’t get them passed by the people’s representatives in the Statehouse," LaRose said. "That effort is well underway. This is a political Trojan horse designed to make elections easier to steal, and they’re dishonestly doing it under the name of security and fairness."

Should the coalition submit another petition summary that Yost accepts, it will be forwarded to the Ohio Ballot Board for review, of which LaRose is the chair.

Read the petition summary and proposed amendment, as well as Yost's rejection letter, below.