FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                 February 26, 2014

Provisional Ballot Bill Falls Short of Fixing Problem with Provisional Ballots

Today, the Ohio Statehouse passed S.B. 216, legislation that deals with provisional ballots.  Not included in the bill was language that would have addressed the problems with provisional ballots making their way into the count on Election Day without being properly vetted by the board of election officials before they are included in the count.  The statewide citizens audit that was conducted in over 40 counties across the state in the aftermath of the 2012 Presidential Election reported in sworn statements by election officials and individuals that provisional ballots were witnessed making their way into the count by being fed into the optical scanners instead of being returned to the desk to be placed in a yellow envelope and sent back to the board of elections to be properly vetted and processed. 

OCA President Chris Long made the following statement, "The Ohio Legislature missed an opportunity when they rejected amendment language that would have addressed the problem. One amendment required the provisional ballots to be made a different color, distinguishing them from a regular ballot. This simple remedy was offered in a consensus from volunteers and poll workers who stated that such a measure would help them to distinguish provisional ballots from regular ballots so that poll workers could intercept them before attempts were made to place them in the optical scanner  on Election Day. 

Another amendment that would have also addressed the issue, but was turned away by the chairman of the State Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee, Rep. Mike Dovilla (R-7) was to direct the Secretary of State to issue a report to the President of the Senate and the House Speaker, recommending a method for issuing a provisional ballot that could not be tabulated on Election Day by the precinct based tabulators (optical scanners).  With the turning away of these amendments, S.B. 216 does not address the problems with provisional ballots.  The problems still exist at polling locations as witnessed by many and confirmed by board of election officials. Provisional ballots are making their way into the count on Election Day, which is a violation of the law. 

Secretary of State Jon Husted's office has said that they will highlight the problem in their upcoming summer training sessions with board of election officials.  We urge the legislature and the Secretary of State to take a proactive role in addressing this problem. OCA and the citizens' audit committee will continue to research and monitor the progress of addressing this problem with provisional ballots. 

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Contact Chris Long 330-887-1922