SUMMARY OF CHANGES MADE TO H.B. 194 BY H.B. 224 as of 7/13/2011 EMERGENCY CLAUSE: The emergency clause in H.B.

224 applies only to sections 3 and 4 of H.B. 224 which provide that when H.B. 194 becomes effective, all provisions of H.B. 194 that require a full Social Security number on any document required of a voter shall require only the last four digits of the electors Social Security Number to be provided. Also of note, the substantive amendments made by H.B. 224 are not subject to the emergency clause and do not become law before H.B. 194s effective date of September 30, 2011. The only law to go into effect when the Governor signs H.B. 224 is Section 3 (and 4), because section 3 specifies that H.B. 194s language about full social security number will not take effect when that language (which is the subject of the referendum) is to become effective. MAJOR ARGUMENTS THAT WILL BE MADE AGAINST THE REFERENDUM EFFORT WITH THE CHANGES OF H.B. 224: 1. privacy is protected by restoring the requirement for only 4 digits of the Social Security Number, 2. provisional voting will be simpler, and provisional ballots will not be processed for 10 days after the election, 3. voter fraud will be thwarted by eliminating online voter registration. PROBLEMS WITH THESE ARGUMENTS: 1. PROVISIONAL VOTING WILL WORK TO DISENFRANCHISE VOTERS, BECAUSE THE REQUIRED AFFIRMATION FOR PROVISIONAL VOTING REQUIRES A VOTER TO HAVE ID (this narrows current law): both bills still require that provisional ballots contain all of the following information in an accompanying affirmation: printed name and signature, date of birth; VOTER ID (one of the following): a) statement of last 4 digits of Social Security Number, b) drivers license number, c) state ID number, or d) an affirmative notation that voter ID (currently state or federal picture ID, utility bill, bank statement government check, paycheck or other government document) was provided, residence address, statement that voter is registered in the jurisdiction in which the provisional ballot is being voted,

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 statement of eligibility to vote provisionally in the election. 2. Both bills now exclude a voter from voting if none of the forms of voter ID above are stated in the affirmation or provided to the poll worker. (The voter cannot sign an affirmation if no ID is provided, and the poll worker shall not record any of the information required to be provided by the affirmation . . . and shall explain to the individual that the provisional ballot will not be counted. R.C. 3501.181(B)(1)(b)), 3. Later, more restrictive voter ID laws (see Section 8 of H.B. 194) would eliminate massive amounts of voters who could neither provide ID nor truthfully sign an affirmation that they had provided the required ID, 4. While H.B. 224 allows election officials to determine eligibility for a provisional ballot to be counted for a 10-day period after an election, there is no language that allows a voter to supply additional information such as missing ID after Election Day; and because the voter could not sign the affirmation and would be told his or her vote would not be counted (nor their information recorded by the poll worker), there is likely no provisional ballot for which to determine eligibility, 5. Online voter registration is currently offered and successfully used in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Oregon, Utah and Washington (not applicable in North Dakota with election day registration). CHANGES MADE BY H.B. 224 TO H.B. 194 ARE LIMITED AND DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE BILL: Ifthe H.B. 194 referendum effort is successful (filed September 29, 2011 with at least 231,154 signatures), H.B. 194 will be prevented from going into effect. The changes added to the H.B. 194 language by H.B. 224 are limited. Since H.B. 224 amends the not-yet-effective language of H.B. 194, there may be a requirement to harmonize the new law (H.B. 224) when it takes effect, with current law that will remain in place with the filing of the referendum petition.(See: R.C. 1.52 Amendments are irreconcilable only when changes made by each cannot reasonably be put into simultaneous operation.)However, many of the changes imposed on H.B. 194 by H.B. 224 simply delete new language in H.B. 194 or to reinsert old language from current law,all of which revert the H.B. 194 language to current law, which will be the state of the law with successful referendum petition filing. In short, the changes in H.B. 224 do not significantly affect the referendum, except to make moot certain arguments for the purposes of referendum about the use of the full Social Security Number and online voter registration.The original talking points for H.B. 194 are reproduced below with language for affected provisions stricken through and new language added by H.B. 224 appearing in all capital letters.

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For current reporting on the effects of H.B. 224 on H.B. 194, see: http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/142014/Ohio-lawmakersaxe-online-voter-registration-plan-.html?isap=1&nav=5038 H.B. 224S CHANGES TO H.B. 194 ARE REFLECTED WITH STRIKETHROUGHS AND CAPITAL LETTERS AS NOTED BELOW: 1. Size of voting precincts: voting precincts in cities but not rural areas would

be required by law to be made bigger in many cases, which could result in longer lines on Election Day in cities, 2. Poll workers:poll workers would not be required to tell a voter they are in the wrong precinct and that their ballot is not counted if they are, 3. Advantages for corporations:rules would be struck down and laws would be softened that regulate corporations activities in campaigns, 4. Citizen petition drives:the time needed to get enough signatures for a statewide petition such as this one would be shortened, 5. Technical reasons not to count votes:more technical reasons would be created to keep ballots from being counted, especially when voters make mistakes, like putting the current year in your birth date for an absentee ballot, 6. Government invading your privacy and identity theft:the government would be using your full Social Security number on documents like provisional and absentee ballot envelopes, with privacy not guaranteed, 7. Using your Social Security number to take you off the rolls: the state would be able to take your DRIVERS LICENSE OR STATE ID INFORMATION AND/OR THE LAST FOUR DIGITS OF YOUR Social Security number and other private information about you and compare it with other government records to take you off the voting rolls, even if it finds new information and could correct your information for you, 8. Only certain people can register to vote online: you would be allowed to register to vote online but only if you have a drivers license or state ID card and gave your whole social security number, 9. Taking away time to correct your ballot: if you voted a provisional ballot, you would not get the 10 days you now have after the election to give additional information so your vote can be counted,EVEN THOUGH ELECTION OFFICIALS COULD TAKE 10 DAYS TO DETERMINE IF YOU MET REQUIREMENTS BY CHECKING THEIR OWN RECORDS 10. Narrowing of Voter ID Requirements: IF YOU DONT HAVE ID ON ELECTION DAY AND DONT OR CANT SUPPLY THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, YOU CANNOT SIGN A REQUIRED AFFIRMATION FOR PROVISIONAL VOTING,DENYING YOU YOUR VOTE, 11. Shortening early voting and no Sunday voting:you would only have 3 weeks (not 5) to vote absentee by mail before Election Day; if you vote absentee in person, you only have 2 weeks, and there would be no Sunday voting, 12. Long lines not allowed to interfere with nearby business:even if there is a long line of voters, the law would now ban that line from interfering with a nearby business,

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13.

Allows for more restrictive voter ID in the future: if more restrictive voter ID requirements become law, this bill says they will control, no matter what.

7/13/11 FairElectionsOhio@gmail.com

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