The transportation budget bill that the General Assembly has sent Gov. John Kasich includes a noxious amendment that would discourage out-of-state college students from voting in Ohio. The governor should veto this irresponsible provision before he signs the bill.
The Republican-controlled state Senate inserted the provision without public hearings or much debate. It would require people who want to vote in Ohio to get in-state driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations no later than 30 days after they register to vote.
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That mandate requires would-be voters to incur costs of $75 or more; violators could face criminal charges. The provision would particularly affect the 100,000-plus out-of-state students who attend Ohio colleges and universities.
Critics of the proposal threaten to sue if it becomes law, challenging its constitutionality. Democratic lawmakers call the amendment a “poll tax” designed to deter college students — who tend to vote Democratic — from going to the polls.
The federal Voting Rights Act makes it illegal for government to tie the ability to vote to unrelated matters such as literacy tests, poll taxes — or vehicle registration. GOP lawmakers say they intend their amendment only to establish residency.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, the state’s chief elections official, said the provision “is about residency for purposes of vehicle registration with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and has nothing to do with participation in elections.” But if the requirement is unrelated to voting, why tie it to voter registration?
Ohio law sensibly requires new residents to get in-state driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations once they move here, though it doesn’t set a deadline for doing so. The new rule would create such a deadline only for residents who want to vote. If lawmakers seek to specify a timetable for motorists to obtain in-state documentation, they can do that without linking it to voting rights and threatening voters with criminal charges.
Republican lawmakers insist they’re committed to ensuring that no Ohio resident is prevented from voting. That claim invites skepticism, because their proposal likely would deter a large number of students from voting.
The new restriction isn’t the only objectionable portion of the new transportation budget. Ohio spends less per person on public transportation than almost any other state, and our meager transit networks show it. The budget bill would continue that trend.
Lawmakers should focus on this kind of real problem that Ohioans face, not imagined threats such as student voting. Whatever else he does with the transportation budget, Governor Kasich should veto this mischievous provision.
First Published March 31, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
