Early and Absentee Voting reminders
Early voting continues at Ohio’s county Board of Elections through Sunday. Find your early voting location here.
- Nov. 1-4: 7:30 am to 7:30 pm
- Saturday, Nov. 5: 8 am to 4 pm
- Sunday, Nov. 5 from 1-5 pm
Nov. 7, Election Day: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Click here for your polling place.
Remember to bring an unexpired valid photo ID if you vote in person.
Making sure your absentee ballot counts
Oct. 31 at 8:30 pm is the deadline for your county Board of Elections to receive your absentee ballot request. If you mail your completed absentee ballot, it must be postmarked no later than Nov. 6 and received by your county Board of Elections by Nov. 11. The best way to make sure your absentee ballot is counted is to deliver it to your Board of Elections by 7:30 pm on Election Day, Nov. 7. Only the voter or a near relative is allowed to deliver a completed absentee ballot. You can track your absentee ballot here.
Ohio Pulse Poll shows likely Ohio voters support abortion access and gun control measures
Baldwin Wallace University published the results of their annual Ohio Pulse Poll on Oct. 17. Fifty-eight percent of likely voters support a constitutional amendment to allow access to abortion, with a range of opinions on limits on to legal abortion. Eighty-three percent of Ohio voters support background checks for 18-21 year-olds. Seventy-two percent support red flag laws to allow law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from owners considered at risk. Sixty percent support limits on gun magazine capacity. All of these majorities are slightly smaller than in 2022. But it is striking that the bills passed by the Ohio Legislature on abortion access and gun rights counter the views of strong majorities of Ohio voters.
Ohio Senate President sends out misinformation about Issue 1, using same header as official Senate website
I received an e-newsletter on Oct. 27 headed “The Ohio Senate” in bold white reverse type, linking to a newsletter “On the Record: The Views the News Excludes.” Though put out by Ohio Republican Senators, the newsletter uses the same masthead as the official web pages of the Ohio Senate. Articles include these headlines and statements: “Abortion is killing the black community. This is not healthcare – this is extermination” (Senator Michele Reynolds) and “it will allow the worst atrocities imaginable: painful late-term abortions – even at nine months, the dismemberment of fully-conscious children, abortions even after a child is born alive.” (Senator Kristina Roegner).
Ballotpedia links to the text of the proposed constitutional amendment, plus the controversial ballot summary language written by the ballot board, which includes prominent opponents to the measure Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Sen. Theresa Gavarone. Here is Ballotpedia’s summary of the measure:
“A “yes” vote supports amending the Ohio Constitution to:
- establish a state constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to” decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy, and
- allow the state to restrict abortion after fetal viability, except when “necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
“The inflammatory language targeting a reproductive rights measure on Ohio’s fall ballot is the type of messaging that is common in the closing weeks of a highly contested initiative campaign,” wrote Julie Carr Smyth and Christine Fernando in the Associated Press on the same day. “Only the messaging isn’t just coming from the anti-abortion groups that oppose the constitutional amendment. It’s being promoted on the official government website of the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate.
“And because the source is a government website, the messaging is being prioritized in online searches for information about Issue 1, the question going before Ohio voters Nov. 7 to enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution…
“Groups backing the proposed amendment say it’s an improper use of a taxpayer-supported website, while experts who study online misinformation said the effort by Republican lawmakers appeared unprecedented,” the AP article continues.
“’It’s a really strategic way to make something appear to be neutral information and fact when that’s not the reality,” said Laura Manley, executive director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. “I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s really smart in a really devious way.’”
Similarly, when I did an internet search on “what does Ohio Issue 1 authorize?” the first link that came up is Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s “Issue 1 on the November 2023 ballot: a legal analysis,” which has also been criticized as raising false concerns about parental consent and the amendment’s limits on abortion.
Heather Cox Richardson’s Oct. 27 “Letters from an American” post places the pre-election misinformation in Ohio into the context of grave international trends. “Shayan Sardarizadeh of the BBC explained to Hanaa’ Tameez of Neiman Journalism Lab that social media posters on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Twitter can make significant sums of money from “engagement farming.” Posting outrageous material that engages viewers pumps up a user’s brand, making them able to command high prices from marketers.
“Sardarizadeh notes that the Israel-Hamas war is a particularly attractive situation for engagement farmers, and rumors and fake videos are flying. But there are plenty of opportunities for disinformation at home, too, for political purposes. In Ohio, the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate is using its official government website to push what Associate Press legal and medical experts say is “false or misleading” information against the proposed constitutional amendment the state’s voters will consider in the November 7 election.”
“Julie Carr Smyth and Christine Fernando of the Associated Press report that Republicans began their “On the Record” blog on the state Senate website after Ohio voters rejected their attempts to make it much harder to pass constitutional amendments. The Republicans bill the blog as an “online newsroom” where voters can find “the views the news excludes.” Republican Senate president Matt Huffman denied that the blog was a news service, but it sits under the “News” tab on the Senate’s website.”
Advocacy briefings are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com
