“It was a traffic jam only Chris Christie could admire.”
That was the first line of my book Laboratories of Autocracy.
And it was summarizing the intentional actions of Ohio’s Secretary of State (and later Ohio’s legislature) to create traffic jams at polling locations around the state (by insisting that there could only be one location for a voting drop box in each county). And of course, the worst traffic jams and lines await voters in our largest urban counties, where more Democratic voters live and vote.
Now, as always happens around election time, Frank LaRose is doubling down on the intentional mess once again—doing all he can to make these jams and lines even longer and less convenient than ever.
First, it’s important to keep in mind that there have been no reports of people improperly using drop boxes in Ohio. And even with long lines, and only one drop box per county, thousands upon thousands of Ohio voters still opt for the drop box as their preferred way to vote. Many of these drop boxes are drive-throughs so you don’t have to leave your car.
One other convenience: Ohio statute allows voters to deliver ballots for direct family members—including “the spouse of the elector, the father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister of the whole or half blood, or the son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the elector may deliver it to the office of the board.”
Again, this is Ohio law.
And until now, this clear law has allowed voters to drop off ballots at drop boxes for such family members. So, for example, if a man makes the 20- or 30- or 40-minute trip to cast his ballot at the county’s drop box, he can also bring his spouse’s or mother’s or grandmother’s or son’s or daughter’s ballots as well. Which is of course far more convenient for all of them than requiring mom or grandma or the kids to make their own separate trips—by bus or their own vehicles or however else they would get there.
This also means lines at drop boxes are shorter than if each voter had to separately drive and deliver her or his ballot to the drop box. So this rule is good for everyone. And there has never been any indication that is has caused problems.
LaRose: If Ain’t Broke, Break It!
But three days ago, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a new order doing away with this common sense and convenient process.
The new rule?
“{T]he only individual who may use a drop box to return the ballot is the voter. All individuals who are delivering ballots for a family member or disabled voter may either mail the ballot to the county board of elections or return the ballot to a county board of elections official at the county board of elections office and complete an attestation at the board of elections.”
So basically, each trip to a drop box must now be done one family member at a time. (Unless our voter picks up mom and/or grandma and/or kids in the car to drive with him with their ballots.)
If he doesn't carpool them with him, in order to deliver mom’s and grandma’s ballots, he may no longer use the drop box (which, again, are often drive-thru).
Instead, he must park, wait in line to enter the elections office, fill out a form, and presumably deliver the ballots there. And he must do this at a time where the office is open because he needs to get the “attestation form” from a staff member.
And if you’re thinking that this defeats the entire convenience of the drop box, you’d be right.
In counties of hundreds of thousands of voters, this will of course lead to longer traffic jams to the extent more people drive separately. And because our horrific Secretary of State insisted that there can only be one drop box location per county, and that it must be co-located where early in-person voters also vote, the extra people now lining up because they are delivering ballots of family members only makes the whole voting process more time-consuming and inconvenient for ALL involved—whether they are using drop boxes or voting in person early.
They Fear Losing Ohio
Which is of course the entire point of this new rule.
Ohio’s anti-democracy right detests early voting of whatever form, and have spent almost every year since Obama won Ohio doing all they can to make it less convenient for voters. Just as they have purged voters by the millions, and added the nation’s strictest photo ID law here just two years ago.
As with gerrymandering, these people are deathly afraid of Ohio’s true majority. So they do everything they can to suppress it and carve it up so it can never prevail again.
They know the truth: Ohio isn’t so much of a red state as it is a rigged state.
So as frustrating and enraging and dispiriting as all this is, let it all strengthen your resolve—they only do it because they’re desperate to stop us.
Overcome every stunt they try to pull and show up in the biggest numbers possible.
Like we did last year.
And like we can this year if we choose to.
Suppression Alert: