Advocacy Update from LWVO dated 10/31/25.
The Ohio General Assembly is keeping us busy with a number of anti-voter and anti-democracy bills in committee right now. | Bills to watch:
SB 293: Revise deadline to return absent voter ballots | This bill would require mail-in ballots to be received by ballots by 7:30pm on Election Day (an amendment was added to make an exception for UOCAVA voters). This would end the 4-day acceptance period now given to mail-in ballots, which allows ballots with a postmark of the day before the election or sooner to be accepted until the Saturday after the election.
- LWVO position: We oppose SB 293
- Bill status: In the Senate General Government Committee; has heard proponent testimony; has had 2 hearings
- Bill documents here
Update on SB 293 from LWVO dated 11/07/25: Ohio SB 293 passes in the Senate | SB 293, a bill that would eliminate the 4-day acceptance window for mail-in ballots, passed on the Senate floor Wednesday after passing in committee earlier that morning.
If made into law, SB 293 could result in the rejection of thousands of legal ballots from eligible voters that were postmarked before Election Day, simply because of postal delays voters cannot control.
In the 2024 election, almost 20% of Ohioans, more than one million people, voted by mail. Nearly 10k ballots were received during the acceptance period last year. There is no rational justification for stripping this window from voters; it does nothing to make elections more secure, it only constricts the time voters will have to return their ballots. Four days is already significantly less time than Ohioans had just a few years ago, before SB 458 narrowed the return window from ten days.
SB 293 now moves on to the Ohio House; we’ll keep you posted about its movement and actions you can take– for now, see our Action Alert below. Watch LWVO Executive Director Jen Miller testify against SB 293 here, along with several of our other good government friends. Take Action Here.
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HJR 2: Applies to Congress for a Convention of the States | HJR 2 seeks to have Ohio apply for a convention of states to propose amendments to limit the power of the federal government. Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, Congress is required to hold a constitutional convention if two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) call for one. If a Convention is called, there are no rules, guardrails, or protections of our basic civil liberties–this represents an extreme threat to our freedom, rights, and democracy.
- LWVO position: We oppose HJR 2
- Bill status: In the Government Oversight Committee; has heard proponent testimony; has had 2 hearings
- Bill documents: here
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HJR 3: Apply for Convention of the States regarding term limits | Like HJR 2, HJR 3 seeks to have Ohio apply for a convention of states; the purpose would be limited to proposing an amendment to the US Constitution limiting congressional terms of office. But again, the convention itself is bound to no rules, so Ohio lawmakers would have no control over what could happen if a convention was unleashed.
- LWVO position: We oppose HJR 2
- Bill status: In the Government Oversight Committee; has heard proponent testimony; has had 2 hearings
- Bill documents: here
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SB 4: Create Election Integrity Unity; revise election law prosecution | SB4 would increase the authority and capacity of the Secretary of State to investigate and refer allegations of election fraud and voter suppression. This would concentrate power and increase capacity to one person in a highly partisan office. This would also complicate the work of elections officials in ways that can't be understood until the impact of the Date Act, HB74, and federal executive orders will have on elections.
- LWVO position: We oppose SB 153
- Bill status: In Senate General Government Committee; has heard proponent and opponent testimony and is due for its 6th hearing in a few weeks, which will allow public testimony. We'll send updates through our OVRC (Ohio Voter Rights Coalition) email.
- Bill documents here: this is not the current bill, as there is another upcoming hearing to adopt a new substitute bill.
- LWVO Executive Director Jen Miller testifying against SB 153 on 10/28 here (timestamp 1:16:45).
- One-pager explainer from OVRC here
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