Ohio lawmakers say ‘no’ to request for state to pay for postage-paid envelopes for your mail-in ballot

COLUMBUS — UPDATED @ 7:40 p.m.: The Ohio Controlling Board had denied the request from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to spend $3 million on postage for mail-in ballots.

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Experts expected the move would have been approved, however the panel of state lawmakers denied the proposal Monday afternoon. Voters will be required to pay the postage themselves to send a ballot back to board of elections offices.

LaRose was seeking the state to pay for the postage so voters could send ballots in quicker and without delay so they would make the deadline and be counted. Cost was not an issue, LaRose said, and he only wanted to speed up the process.

“If they have the postage paid, our belief is (voters) will send (ballots) in sooner. We want them to send it in sooner,” LaRose said. “We don’t want them to sit on kitchen tables or counters for days and days on end. One way to encourage them to send it in sooner is for us to provide that postage,”

Despite the secretary of state’s requests to have his office pay for the postage, most lawmakers on the panel voted no.

Lawmakers said they did not want to make any changes so close to the election. And they don’t want the state paying for it, saying people already have enough options for voting.

Rep. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, said he did not want to make any changes in the voting system so close to the election. Oelslager also said he thinks no changes are needed.

“I believe the people of Ohio have plenty of opportunities to vote in this coming election,” Oelslager said.

The money would have come from business filing fees paid to the Secretary of State’s office, not from tax revenue. Still, with the Controlling Board’s rejection of the plan, LaRose said any chance of providing postage for ballots this year is dead.

“Ohio has a sound elections system, but today was another missed opportunity by the legislature to make a small change, without an impact on our state budget, that would yield a big improvement,” LaRose said.

Ironically, LaRose, a Republican, did not get any support from fellow Republicans on the Controlling Board. The “yes” votes were from Democrats. Senate Democratic Chair Nickie Antonio condemned the vote by Republicans to deny the postage for mail-in ballots.

“Part of our job as legislators is to remove barriers to voting. But today, several of my Republican colleagues voted to add a new one,” Antonio said.

Cox Media Group