DEAR EDITOR:

The Ohio General Assembly has under consideration the “Ohio SAVE Act”. It’s an attack on our voting rights and on our right to amend the Ohio Constitution.

These rights are fundamental to a democracy, and we need to protect them! The Ohio SAVE Act does just the opposite. It’s intended to restrict who can vote without any evidence of fraud or abuse. And it’s intended to make it more difficult to adopt voter initiatives without any evidence of abuse. This Act is nothing more than an effort by the General Assembly to protect themselves from the will of Ohio voters.

The Ohio SAVE Act would make it more difficult, without good cause, to vote by:

�–� Banning ballot drop boxes;

�–� Prosecuting citizens for failure to respond to voter confirmation notices;

�–� Requiring many Ohioans to register only at the BMV or county Board of Elections;

�–� Requiring your ID to match your voter information exactly (e.g., disqualification for missing middle initial);

�–� Requiring newly registered voters and updated voters to vote provisionally until their citizenship is verified by the bureaucracy (how long will that take?);

�–� Canceling your registration if you vote provisionally and fail to provide proper documentation afterwards.

Two years ago Ohio voters statewide rejected a proposal by the General Assembly to make it more difficult to approve voter initiatives to amend the Ohio Constitution. That proposal was soundly defeated (57%). To circumvent that defeat, the proposed act would restrict voter initiatives through the back door. It would:

�–� Place petition circulators in legal jeopardy;

�–� Increase harassment of petition circulators;

�–� Invent reasons to invalidate petitions;

�–� Force petition circulators to consent to testify if requested, and to be investigated by the state Attorney General;

�–� Increase the number of invalidated signatures because citizens could no longer register and sign the petition at the same time.

The ACLU Ohio says that “anyone who circulates a ballot initiative petition would be guilty until proven innocent.”

Urge your representatives in the Ohio General Assembly to reject this bill!

Also, Ohio voters should undertake and adopt a voter initiative to amend the Ohio Constitution to the effect that any Ohio legislator who votes for any legislation that restricts Ohio voting rights, or that restricts voter initiatives, should immediately be disqualified permanently from the General Assembly and from any other state or local government office.

MARK HENNESSEY

Pepper Pike