AP Exclusive: Thousands of Ohio absentee applications denied – By Julie Carr Smyth (AP News) / Dec 16 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Thousands of Ohio voters were held up or stymied in their efforts to get absentee ballots for last year’s general election because of missing or mismatched signatures on their ballot applications, an Associated Press review has found.
The signature requirement on such applications is a largely overlooked and spottily tracked step in Ohio’s voting process, which has shifted increasingly to mail-in ballots since early, no-fault absentee voting was instituted in 2005.
To supporters, the requirement is a useful form of protection against voter fraud and provides an extra layer of security necessary for absentee balloting.
To detractors, it’s a recipe for disenfranchisement — a cumbersome addition to an already stringent voter identification system.
Susan Barnard, of Dayton in Montgomery County, said her 78-year-old husband, Leslie, who has cancer, missed a chance to vote last year because of a delay related to the signature requirement.
“We had planned a cruise last fall to give him something to look forward to,” said Barnard, 73. “It fell at the time of the election, and we were going to vote the absentee ballot. We got right down to the wire and we didn’t have one for him, and so he did not vote because of that.”
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