Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Restrictive Drop Box Rules

n a 4-3 ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld a recent directive from Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) that effectively prohibits authorized individuals from returning an absentee ballot to a drop box on behalf of a family member or voter with disabilities.

The ruling comes after Ohio Democrats filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court challenging LaRose’s controversial guidance, which stipulates that “only a voter’s personal ballot may be returned via drop box.” LaRose promulgated the Aug. 31 directive in the name of “election integrity” and preventing “ballot harvesting.”

Under the directive, assistants or family members returning a ballot on behalf of another voter must do so inside of a county board of elections office, where they are also required to complete an attestation form. Unlike secure ballot drop boxes that are available 24/7, county boards of elections offices are only open during set operating hours and often have wait times.

Today’s ruling from the court’s Republican majority dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs waited too long to challenge LaRose’s directive — noting the fact that early and absentee voting already commenced in the state on Oct. 8. The justices did not, however, weigh in on the merits of the directive.


https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/ohio-supreme-court-restrictive-drop-box-rules/