Voting Issue Back Before State Legislature

Second Try at Changing Voting Law?

We are going to start migrating to our new blog which is actually part of our new website.  So, this site will remain active as an archive, but will only have a summary of the issues for new entries.  We are in the process of migrating to the new site this week, so don't bookmark the new site yet.  The names of the pages are not set yet, and will likely change this week.

The Ohio State Legislators are taking up SB 295, the bill repealing HB 194, will be up for a committee vote (and probably headed to the Senate floor) on Wednesday.  If you remember, HB 194 dramatically changed the voting procedure in Ohio.  NEOCH and most advocates in the state opposed these changes, and helped to get the citizens of Ohio to be able to vote on this law.

For more information on this post go here.


Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Time To Get Your Absentee Ballot

This Will Take No More Than Two Minutes

NEOCH staff have already commented about the bad deal Cuyahoga County struck with the State of Ohio over voting procedures, but it is a done and we have to live with it.  Now it is time to sign up to receive your absentee ballot by mail.  It is actually very easy on the County Board of Elections website.  All you have to do is answer a couple of questions on the Board of Elections website and they will send it to you.  No hassle.  No standing in lines, and no sending in an envelope.  If you want to go old school, you can print out a form and send it to the Board of Elections at the same site.  Since the County is not going to remind people to vote by sending a form, it is critical to send this link around to family and friends and get them to sign up to receive a ballot in the mail.

The other piece of good news is the House Bill 194, which radically changes voting procedure will likely be on the ballot next year.  It looks like advocates have reached the number of signatures that they need to allow Ohioans to vote on these changes in the law.  NEOCH absolutely opposes HB 194, and helped gather signatures to allow Ohio voters to decide.  NEOCH sued the State of Ohio over the counting of provisional ballots and showing identification in order to vote on behalf of our constituency who often do not have proper identification.  We settled with the state in 2010, and our settlement was up in the air because of the changes in voting law with HB 194.  It looks like with the collection of sufficient signatures HB 194 will be put on hold, and our settlement will remain at least through the 2012 Presidential election.  The best thing to come out of our settlement was a consistent process for counting provisional ballots throughout the State of Ohio.  This allows a homeless person without identification voting in the correct precinct in Medina having the same opportunity to have his or her provisional ballot counted as the homeless person without identification in Franklin County. 

Go to the website today and ask for a ballot by mail today!!!  If you are social service provider, get all your clients to sign up.  Make Fridays, "Participate in Democracy Fridays,"  by making sure your clients are registered and have ordered a ballot for November.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Thank You County Council

Transformational Art Center at the Bishop Cosgrove Center.  Photo by Luke Drotar. Look for an article and more pictures in the next Street Chronicle to hit the streets soon. 

Voter Mailing Going Forward

We have covered this story over the last two weeks over the controversy over mailing of absentee ballots here and here.  A great deal of back and forth between the State of Ohio and County Executive Ed Fitzgerald took place over the last week.  The Plain Dealer scolded the two with an editorial asking that the Secretary of State and the County Executive to work things out.  Setting aside the fact that the local newspaper should always defend our local politicians (no matter what party) against any state intrusion in local decision making, we did not understand what Fitzgerald was being scolded for by the PD.

There was a comment in one of the blog postings about voting regarding the collective bargaining ballot issue and voting "A good way to gain momentum (is) to shove Issue 2 down the rest is the state's throat. Are you about homelessness or political advocacy?"  I am not sure what this comment means since we have not commented on SB 5 in a few months, but our answer is both.  NEOCH is about advocacy organization and a homeless organization.  We are about forwarding solutions to homelessness and not just offering charity to the population, Cousin.  We believe that we need to involve ourselves in policy discussions so that we do not continue to send people into homelessness or continue to make it more difficult to get into stable housing.  When we cut funds to affordable housing, or eliminate job training programs for homeless people, or make it more difficult for homeless people to vote, NEOCH comments.  This is not a feeling among our staff; it is our mission.  Forwarding public policy and protecting homeless people from bad laws is the reason that NEOCH was created.  We have an obligation to notify the public about advocacy that has an impact on homeless people, and our membership has come to expect this information over the last 20 years.

Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, and if anyone in our society needs to vote it is the homeless individual.  They see how government policy has failed, and should be first in line to call for changes.  They, of all citizens, need to petition their elected officials to fix the long wait for subsidized housing, the unfair wait for disability screenings, the poverty level assistance for those born with a disability, or the crippling debt caused by a chronic health condition.  The changes in the rules for voting will make it more difficult for those with a low income and especially homeless people to participate in the democratic process, and therefore it is an issue for NEOCH.  If not NEOCH who will place these issues in the court of public opinion?  Homeless people have a great deal going on in their life such as looking for housing, a job and a place to sleep every night, and they deserve a reminder from Cuyahoga County concerning "vote by mail" opportunities.  Just getting a piece of mail from your government while you are homeless gives you a small sense that you are still equal to the citizen living in Moreland Hills, and therefore it is worth the expense.

We have to congratulate the Cuyahoga County Council and Executive who put aside politics and vote 10 to 0 to send out the mailing.  Both Republican and Democrat saw that their constituent would benefit from this information.  They realized that anything that we can do to keep down the lines on election day is important.  We should do anything we can to not overwhelm those sweet older women at the polling places as a government.  State officials tried everything they could do to interfere with the voting process, by falsely claiming that this would given Cuyahoga County an unfair advantage.  The Secretary of State improperly threatened that he could force the Board of Election to reject those applications.  How could the board distinguish between the mailing and the form printed out from the Secretary of State website?  And then the state auditor said that he could look at the County expense to see if it served a public purpose.  How could encouraging voting not be a public purpose?   All of these statements can only be seen as activities to disenfranchise voters and suppress turnout.   Thank you County Council members for setting aside politics and doing the right thing for your constituents.  This is a victory for our advocacy and good government.

Brian
Post Script:  Thank you to State Representatives: Budish, Foley, Antonio, and Williams as well as State Senators Mike Skindell and Nina Turner wrote a letter to the Justice Department asking for an investigation regarding voter suppression activities.  This is similar to the letter the National Coalition wrote to the Justice Department regarding voter suppression activities around the United States and specifically in Ohio.  

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Voting Advocacy Opportunity

Cuyahoga County: Send Out Notice of Early Election

This morning the Cuyahoga Board of Elections split along party lines about sending out applications for early voting in the November 2011 election. As you are aware, the State of Ohio passed a law in June which bars local county boards of elections from paying for a mailing that includes a blank early voting application. That law will take effect in late September unless advocates collect enough signatures to get the voting law on the ballot. The County had already approved the funds for a mailing, but the Board of Elections just needed to send out the mailing. This morning the Board could not achieve a majority of votes to authorize this mailing. It is likely that Republican Jon Husted, current Ohio Secretary of State, will side with the two Republican Board members in Cuyahoga County and not approve the mailing.

Cuyahoga County has the opportunity to claw back these funds for the mailing from the Board of Elections, and do the mailing themselves. This is not a Presidential election, and these odd year elections can sneak up on voters. The shut in, the person who travels a great deal, and the homeless individuals waiting for their birth certificate from another state so that they can get identification, would appreciate a blank application in the mail to complete and send back to make sure that they do not miss the opportunity to vote. This is a bad state law that we hope will be overturned by voters. We need more participation in the election, and reminding voters only boosts turn out. Urge the County Council to send out this mailing to all eligible Cuyahoga County voters. They have a month and half to make this happen. Give your Councilperson a call to urge them to send out this early voting information mailing. Here is the contact information:
http://council.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/council-members.aspx

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Voting Changes Coming to Ohio

How do you vote, when you can bring your residence to the polling place?
Photo by Cheryl Jones of the Grapevine Photo Project

Why Are We Making All These Changes?

Was the 2010 election corrupt in Ohio? Did we have long lines at the polling places? Did we have a flawed electronic voting system without a backup for verification purposes? Were there charges from either side that voters were casting multiple ballots? Were there problems with counting the ballots or with provisional voting? So, why did we change the procedure for voting Ohio with the passage of House Bill 194?

NEOCH has been involved in a lawsuit against the State of Ohio since 2006 that we finally settled in 2010. We have a 20 year history of working to assure that those without a traditional residence have a right to vote. We believe that it is critical to have homeless people participate in the electoral process under the thinking that they above other citizens need to vote for leaders willing to address the housing, job and healthcare crisis. These changes are especially troubling to groups that represent very low income individuals, and will make it difficult for our constituency to participate in democracy.

The leaders down in Columbus made changes to the procedure for voting with the passage of HB 194, and then two weeks later corrected the law that they had just passed. Strange, and it does not inspire confidence in the law if they needed a fix only two weeks later. So what are the changes and what will they mean?

• The size of the precincts will be changed so that they are larger, but for some reason only in urban communities. This will mean longer lines for those in cities where the majority of homeless people reside.
• Poll workers will not be required to tell people that they are voting in the wrong precinct, which will result in many more spoiled ballots and disenfranchised voters.
• Counties may not send out an application for early voting to registered voters. Large counties tried to encourage voting to cut down on lines by sending out notices to every registered voter, and paid for the return of the ballot to the Board. This new law will prevent counties from communicating with voters and prevents them from paying for the return of the completed request. This will result in more people voting in person thus causing lines.
  
• There are a whole series of changes that allow corporations greater participation in the election, which will bring more dollars into the election.
  
• The time to bring citizen petitions to a statewide ballot would be shortened making it harder to get ballot issues before voters to decide.
  
• Provisional ballots could be excluded from being counted for technical reasons. This was the settlement of the NEOCH vs. State of Ohio lawsuit that will be overturned. Homeless people often have to vote a provisional ballot because they move around so frequently. It was our position that if a poll worker makes the error the ballot should count. This new law would allow that a poll worker who suspects the voter to be casting a ballot for the other party they could make an intentional error on the processing of the ballot and it would not count thus benefiting the poll worker's party.
  
• They have taken away the ability to open early voting sites on Sundays and reduced early voting to 16 days (down from 35). This will result in longer lines for early voting and fewer people with the ability to vote early in person. Again, more people will be forced to vote in person on election day again resulting in lines.
• Long lines at the polling place cannot interfere with local surrounding businesses. I have no idea what this means or how it is can be enforced. Would the county sheriff or Ohio Highway Patrol shut down voting activities because it was interfering with a local bowling alley which happens to share a parking lot with a church polling place? Would the local police have jurisdiction to enforce this part of the law?
  
• There are new rules for when to take a voter off the voting rolls. This would allow the state to search databases and take a voter off the list of eligible voters. Often there is a conflict between two state databases due to clerical errors, and with this new law that could involve the individual being taken off the voting roles. The voter would then have to vote a provisional ballot and hope that it gets counted under the new rules.
  

These changes will be harmful to those who live in cities. They will make it more difficult to vote in person and by mail. They will fix problems that never existed in Ohio, and will reduce confidence in the election. Ohio had major problems with voting in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential election, but the only problem in 2008 election was with duplicate registrations. No one charged that there were duplicate voters or that Mickey Mouse voted in Ohio, just that ACORN paid people to register people and many of these canvassers made up registrations in order to get paid. Why would we want to go back to long lines and attempts to trip up voters by figuring out ways to disqualify voters? We should try to get as many people as possible to want to vote and make that process as easy as possible. Ohio is moving the wrong way in providing an efficient and trustworthy process for participating in democracy.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Good Article in CWRU Magazine

Consider the Difficulty in Finding Identification

The CWRU Magazine, Think, had an interesting article about how difficult it is for those re-entering from incarceration to obtain identification. As we move forward in Ohio again on changing the process for voting (Remember how great a job we did in the 2005 reform?), legislators need to keep in mind how difficult it is to obtain identification.

In case the article disappears on the CWRU website here it is:

Regaining Identity a Nightmare for Recent Inmates

Obtaining an identification card is, seemingly, a normal passage through life. But those who recently have been released from prison, a valid ID can be a nearly impossible luxury.

Case Western Reserve University social-work researcher Amy Blank Wilson, PhD, says obtaining identification is an uphill battle for inmates reentering society. Lacking it can bar ex-offenders from public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid, which require clients to show ID.

“Released prisoners are being systematically excluded because of UD requirements,” she says.

The problem starts early in the criminal justice system: Suspects routinely have their identification confiscated when they are arrested. Those who don’t have it with them as they are apprehended are never given an opportunity to grab it. And the homeless are often forced to abandon all belongings on the street.

Wilson says that for those who are lucky enough to have some form of ID when they’re released, often what they have isn’t enough. Obtaining major forms of government-issued identification-such as a Social Security card- can require two different forms of Ids, such as a driver’s license and birth certificate, neither of such can be granted without at least one other major form of ID.

“When they’re released, former inmates face the Catch-22’ that it takes ID to get ID,” Wilson says. “This is keeping people from receiving life-sustaining resources. They’re missing out on the services they need.”

As a founding member of the local Homeless ID Collaborative under the guidance of West Side Catholic, the public needs to realize that it is very difficult to both afford and obtain a birth certificate. For those not born in Ohio, it can take months to get a birth certificate and the cost can be as high as $70. This is not an easy undertaking, and as the article suggests identification is now invaluable for housing, voting, obtaining a job and health care. Legislators need to be aware that identification is not so easy to come by even if the state decides to pay for the state identification card. A citizen cannot get a state id unless they have a birth certificate and social security number.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Voting Under Attack Again

Advocates sign up homeless people and take them to the polling places during the 2010 election during "Golden Week."

Advocacy Update: VOTING

In another effort to solve a problem that does not really exist in Ohio, legislators have proposed a reform of voting laws in Ohio. This voting legislation will make it more difficult for low-income voters to participate in the electoral process. Current Secretary of State, Jon Husted has proposed a reform of Ohio election law despite not having any evidence that there is a problem with the current system. Activists are hosting a press conference on Monday to show their opposition to this reform of the voting system. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Cleveland Tenants Organization and others oppose this proposed bill. We believe that these are bills to limit access to the ballot box ahead of the 2012 Presidential election, and Ohio will again see a controversial presidential election like we saw in 2004.

PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

When: Monday, May 16, 12:30pm or 1:00pm
Where: Steps of the Board of Elections
Invited participants: -Rep. Sandra Williams -Councilman Jeff Johnson -Rep. Mike Foley -Rick DeChant, Voting Rights Institute -Rev. Marvin McMickle

Text of bills: House Bill 159 (Photo ID bill)
House Bill 194 (House version of Husted bill)
Senate Bill 148 (Senate version of Husted bill)

Here are is the summary of the the Husted bill:

1. The plan will make it harder to vote. The bills slash early voting days from 35 to as few as 6 days. In 2010, 1,200 homeless people in Cuyahoga County voted early. In addition, the bills eliminate the busiest early voting days: the Monday and Saturday preceding the election. Politifact recently gave Secretary of State Jon Husted a “Pants on Fire” for the lies he told while advocating fewer early vote days. The bills also give the Secretary of State unprecedented ability to purge Ohioans from the voter rolls.
   
2. Under the plan, fewer votes will count. Under the bills, a vote won’t be counted if a voter fills in the oval for a candidate and also writes in the name of the exact same candidate. This particularly disenfranchises low-income voters who aren’t familiar with optical scan ballots. An estimated 10,000 voters would have their ballots thrown out, even though their intent is 100 percent clear. In addition, these bills require additional personal information from voters casting provisional ballots, including a voter’s full Social Security number, exposing voters to potential identity theft.
   
3. Local control is eliminated under this plan. The bills take away the right of local boards of elections to determine how best to use resources to run smooth elections in their counties. Larger counties have made it easier to vote early by mail, which helps prevent long lines on Election Day. The plan would take us back to the days of voters standing for hours in line in the rain on Election Day. In addition, the plan eliminates counties’ ability to set up early vote locations that accommodate older voters and may provide adequate parking. NEOCH supports uniform standards across the state, but we feel that we should implement laws that allow the largest number of voters to participate and not limit access to the ballot box as this legislation does.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless Support Collective Bargaining

May 6: Petition Drive to Allow Citizens to Vote on the Anti Collective Bargaining Law

People experiencing homelessness realize the value unions have in our society to protect wages so that workers who put a full day of labor into a job can afford a place to live that evening. There is a significant attack on the rights of workers to bargain collectively sweeping the country. People who are homeless and all lower income workers are concerned about these attempts to undermine unions in Ohio and the United States. On May 6, volunteers, people who are homeless and advocates will fan out throughout the state to gather petition signatures in order to get the recently passed Senate Bill 5 on the ballot in November. Homeless Coalitions in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus will deploy volunteers to local area shelters to gather signatures. The vendors for the three street newspapers in the three cities will be joining many others in collecting enough signatures to authorize a statewide ballot measure to decide the fate of collective bargaining for public employees in November.

Many people who are homeless are laid off members of a union, and most people who are homeless have a goal of one day working in a workplace protected by a union. “We all remember the words of President Ronald Reagan, ‘The [brave workers in Poland] remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost,’ and have come together to try to protect the rights of workers to organize in Ohio,” said Cleveland Homeless Coalition director Brian Davis. Vendors for the Cincinnati Streetvibes, Columbus Street Speech, and Cleveland Street Chronicle will gather petition signatures in the Downtowns of the three major cities in Ohio. Josh Spring, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless director said, “We all believe that union organizing and the ability to sit down with an employer on an equal footing is a social justice issue, and must be protected in Ohio.”

Contrary to popular belief most people who are homeless do vote and are registered to vote. In fact, the Cleveland and Columbus Coalitions settled a lawsuit in 2010 with the State of Ohio over access to the ballot on Election Day for homeless people without identification. During the day of action, advocates and volunteers will be registering people who are homeless to vote. Advocates statewide need 231,000 legitimate signatures before the end of June 2011 to get the initiative on the November ballot, and allow voters to decide on the law before it becomes law.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Voter ID Headed to Ohio

Limiting Access to Voting 2011

After seeing all the opposition to the end of collective bargaining for public employees that was met with deaf ears, it is probably a waste of time contacting your state legislator at this point. So, this is just for information purposes. The State of Ohio is proposing another reform of voting procedures in Ohio. Remember that this was tried in 2005 and a number of organizations including NEOCH sued to protect access to the ballot by homeless people, seniors, immigrants, college students, and people interested in the smooth operation of government. So the state does not have the best track record for reforming voting laws in Ohio. This time they are going to require state identification in order to vote (Ohio HB 159). Most of the state legislators in Cuyahoga County oppose this voting identification law, because they realize that this will suppress voting.

The legislation will allow "indigent" individuals a free state ID, but they are not considering the basis of all ID is the birth certificate. The birth certificate can cost anywhere from $5 to $60 depending on the state an individual was born. So, paying for the state identification does not guarantee access to a government identification card. There is a vague definition in the potential law describing how a person establishes themselves as indigent. It is unclear how to prove the negative of not having any money. The other issue is that for many homeless people it is difficult to establish residency in the state. Ohio will only give identification to individuals who can prove residency within the state. Some homeless people who live in shelters or on the streets are turned away from receiving identification because they can’t prove they are a resident.

Advocates claim that one fourth of African Americans, 18% of those over 65 years old, and 15% of low income individuals do not have government issued identification. According to the US Census there are 830,000 people living in Ohio who fall below the poverty level. Many of those very low income individuals will have a difficult time voting because they may not have a government issued identification. Over the last major election in Ohio in 2010, there was only one documented case of voter fraud, and there were 3.9 million votes cast. The state is proposing paying for the state identification, but not the birth certificate or guaranteeing access to homeless people who may have a difficult time proving residency.

This is another horrible reform of the election law that will do nothing to protect the ballot. The only thing that this does is to discourage fragile populations from attempting to vote on election day in person. It also destroys the settlement that we had with the state last year over identification procedures for voting in person.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless People Do Vote

Early voting activities from 2008--staff photo

Homeless Coalition Urges Those Experiencing Homelessness to Vote Early

PRESS RELEASE CLEVELAND OHIO: The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is organizing homeless people to urge them to vote early at the Board of Elections main location on Euclid Ave. In 2010, NEOCH settled its four year old lawsuit with the State of Ohio over voting procedures especially with regard to the counting of provisional ballots. “We finally reached a settlement with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner earlier this year that assures clear guidelines are distributed to all 88 Boards of Elections regarding voting procedures for homeless people,” said NEOCH director Brian Davis.

Highlights of the settlement include:

1. The Secretary will issue a directive to all 88 Boards of Elections that clarifies that homeless people have a right to vote, and that all legitimate ballots must be counted.
2. Homeless and low income shall not be deprived their right to vote because of poll worker error or because of differing interpretations of the law by local boards.
3. The settlement spells out specific requirements for counting provisional ballots after election day. Provisional ballots are cast if the individual does not have identification on election day or there is some other issue with their registration when they show up at the polling place. In 2006 and 2008, there were wide disparities in the percentage of provisional ballots accepted as legitimate votes among the 88 counties. This settlement should standardize the counting of provisional ballots so that every county is operating under similar guidelines.
4. A legitimate registered voter who votes in the correct precinct and has completed the provisional ballot correctly but does not have identification can present the last four digits of his or her social security number and that ballot will be accepted as a legitimate ballot when the provisional ballots are reviewed.
5. The settlement clarifies why a provisional ballot would not be accepted and therefore not counted as a vote in this and every election through 2013. Just because a person is registered at a shelter or street address, the Board of Elections cannot reject their provisional ballot.

If a homeless person does not have identification, they can vote early at the main office of the Board of Elections. They will only be asked for their last four digits of their social security number of state identification number if they vote early. They will not have to show anyone their ID by voting early. It is for this reason that the Coalition is urging shelter staff to alert their clients of the ease in voting early. “With the change in the County government and the important state election, it is critical that all homeless people vote in 2010,” said NEOCH executive director Brian Davis.

Securing and maintaining identification is difficult and expensive for many homeless individuals. Voting is the great equalizer in the United States. Everyone from the doctors at the Cleveland clinic, the rocket scientists at NASA Glenn Center, and homeless people have a right to cast one ballot to select who will lead this country,” said Davis. The Settlement with the State of Ohio is posted on the NEOCH Website under http://www.neoch.org/chlap.htm, and the Coalition is always willing to help anyone in the state with questions or concerns about voting. Early voting ends November 1, 2010.

written by Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.