Whatever happened to House Bill 194? That’s what everybody’s talking about on the street these days.
Well, eh, maybe not. But remember, the story so far is this: HB 194, aka the Vote Suppression Act of 2011, was narrowly passed by the Ohio Legislature and signed by Governor Kasich this summer.
It would have dramatically reduced your chances to vote, reversing a half-century bipartisan trend to increase voting rights.
But in Ohio, anyway, citizens don’t have to just sit around and watch while a runaway government takes their rights away.
A broad-based movement leapt into being, acting to put HB 194 up to the voters via the people’s referendum.
There was a small window of time available and a sizeable hurdle to clear along the way: 231,000 signatures were needed from counties all over Ohio and they had to be collected in less than six weeks to put the repressive law on hold.
It was scheduled to take effect at the end of September.
In the end, 318,460 Ohioans signed the petition – far more than were needed.
It’s a clear demonstration of how strongly Ohio voters resist the Kasich administration’s assault on their rights. The signatures were delivered to the Ohio Secretary of State last week, stopping the clock on the implementation of HB 194.
The issue will appear on the ballot next year and a majority of voters will get to decide whether to uphold HB 194 or reject it.
In the meantime, the previous law is in force and more generous rules governing early voting apply.
Early voting began this week, thanks to the coalition of voters who talked back to the legislature.
If you’re registered to vote in Wood County, you can vote in person at the courthouse, Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30, or request a mail-in absentee ballot. The website for the Wood County Board of Elections is here: http://www.co.wood.oh.us/BOE/index.html.
The deadline for registering to vote, if you haven’t yet, is coming up next week: Tuesday, Oct. 11.
We live in weird times, when groups who claim to be in favor of limited government have started to use the powers of government to take people’s rights away.
It’s almost as if you can’t believe what a politician says anymore.
However, this much is clear: in the current climate, you will have to use your rights or lose them.
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