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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democrats held a virtual press conference to speak out against regressive legislation being circulated by statehouse Republicans that makes it harder for Ohioans to vote and creates confusion for voters, taking major steps backward in the fight for voting rights in Ohio.

“Statehouse Republicans are creating an obstacle course for Ohioans to navigate, making it harder to exercise their right to vote. We should be removing barriers to the voting booth, not creating new ones,” said Senate Assistant Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood).

“It’s important to remember that this regressive legislation is only the latest in a series of efforts by Ohio Republicans to walk back voting rights in our state. While many voting rights advocates are rightly concerned about the legislation in Georgia — for the Ohio GOP, Georgia was simply a starting point,” said Representative Phil Robinson (D-Solon).

“If we’re serious about making our state more competitive and encouraging our young people to stay here, we should create laws that reflect the needs of our residents and make their lives easier. Instead, the Ohio GOP insists on introducing bills that continue to take Ohio backward and that attack Ohioans’ fundamental rights,” said Representative Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland).

“Democrats are committed to improving the voting system in Ohio and making our elections safe and accessible for Ohioans. In fact, we’ve introduced many bills to do just that. But these GOP proposals aren’t serious efforts to help Ohio voters, they’re extreme measures that only make it more difficult for Ohioans to have their voices heard. And we won’t sit quietly as Republican politicians attack the right to vote once again,” said Representative Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo).

“We’re proud of the work we do to make voting easy for our residents and the resources we provide to help Ohioans cast their ballot. But proposals like this one from Columbus Republicans make it harder for local elections officials to do our job,” said Hamilton County Board of Elections Chair Gwen McFarlin.

The regressive GOP proposal currently being circulated would make it harder for Ohioans to vote by:

• Eliminating a day of early voting on the Monday before Election Day,
• Cutting off Ohioans’ ability to request an absentee ballot 10 days out from an election, removing a week that Ohioans were previously able to request an absentee ballot,
• Requiring two forms of ID for online absentee ballot requests,
• Prohibiting anyone but the Secretary of State from providing prepaid postage for absentee ballot request returns and providing no funding for the Secretary to be able to do so,
• Codifying Frank LaRose’s nonsensical limit of one dropbox location per county that can only be used in cases of emergency, but making a confusing exception to the rule 10 days out from an election, and
• Forcing Ohioans to opt-in to ‘automated’ voter registration through the BMV, meaning voter registration isn’t automated at all.

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Late yesterday, statehouse Republicans started circulating legislation that makes it harder for Ohioans to vote and creates confusion for voters, taking major steps backward in the fight for voting rights in Ohio.

“In a state that has set the bar for extreme anti-voter laws, this proposal actively takes steps to put Ohio further back in the fight for access to the voting booth. By limiting Ohioans’ ability to vote and by sowing confusion, statehouse Republicans are once again attacking the fundamental right to vote in this state. While Georgia’s voting bill has been panned nationwide, Ohio Republicans used that bill as a starting point and then proceeded to work backward from there,” said Chair Walters.

Read more coverage about the bill below:

Cincinnati.com:

• Proposed changes to Ohio election law would eliminate voting on the day before Election Day, limit drop boxes and allow voters to request absentee ballots online.
• The changes, which will soon be introduced as a bill by Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, and Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, would eliminate in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day so county election officials could prepare for Tuesday.
• Another change would require Ohioans to request mail-in ballots 10 days before an election rather than three days before an election.
• The proposed bill language wasn’t yet available Thursday, but voter advocates have initial concerns about tinkering with the absentee ballot process.
• The Ohio Democratic Party issued a statement slamming the bill, saying changes such as eliminating a day of early voting or reducing the time to request an absentee ballot would make it harder for Ohioans to vote.

Cleveland.com: 

• A new Republican-backed Ohio elections bill would set limits on the drop boxes in which voters can leave completed absentee ballots, including making them available for 20 fewer days compared to the November election, while also eliminating early, in-person voting on the Monday before Election Day.
• Other provisions including moving the deadline to apply for a mail ballot to 10 days before the election, instead of the Saturday before the election, as under existing law.
• Requesting an absentee ballot online, a longtime priority LaRose, would require voters to provide both a driver’s license or state ID number and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
• In a statement, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters unfavorably compared the new bill to the controversial recent elections law passed in Georgia.
• An earlier version of Seitz’s bill leaked last week, drawing widespread condemnation from Democrats after a progressive group published it on Twitter, describing it as a “draconian” “voter suppression” bill. The draft bill was similar to the version described in Thursday’s memo, although the older version would have effectively banned ballot drop boxes by making them only available during declared emergencies, while requiring two forms of ID to vote early in person.
• Fears from Democrats and voting-rights advocates are high after Republican state lawmakers in other key swing states, including Michigan and Georgia, have proposed or passed numerous new restrictions on voting this year, justifying them with former President Donald Trump’s bogus claims of widespread voter fraud during last year’s presidential election.

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Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters released the following statement on radical anti-voter legislation being circulated by statehouse Republicans that makes it harder for Ohioans to vote and creates confusion for voters, taking major steps backward in the fight for voting rights in Ohio.

“In a state that has set the bar for extreme anti-voter laws, this proposal actively takes steps to put Ohio further back in the fight for access to the voting booth. By limiting Ohioans’ ability to vote and by sowing confusion, statehouse Republicans are once again attacking the fundamental right to vote in this state. While Georgia’s voting bill has been panned nationwide, Ohio Republicans used that bill as a starting point and then proceeded to work backward from there,” said Chair Walters.

The circulated proposal would make it harder for Ohioans to vote by:

• Requiring two forms of ID for online absentee ballot requests,
• Eliminating a day of early voting on the Monday before Election Day,
• Cutting off Ohioans’ ability to request an absentee ballot 10 days out from an election, removing a week that Ohioans were previously able to request an absentee ballot, and
• Prohibiting local government offices from providing postage for voters to mail back absentee ballots. The proposal puts that power solely with the Secretary of State but provides no funding for the Secretary to be able to do so.

The proposal would create confusion for voters by:

• Codifying Frank LaRose’s nonsensical limit of one dropbox per county that can only be used in cases of emergency, but making a confusing exception to the rule 10 days out from an election, and
• Forcing Ohioans to opt-in to ‘automated’ voter registration, meaning voter registration isn’t automated at all.

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In Case You Missed It, Salon today did a deep dive on Big Tech’s favorite Republicans, Josh Mandel and J.D. Vance. As Mandel and Vance attempt to appear tough against Big Tech, in reality they’re deep in the pockets of Silicon Valley’s biggest names.  

“Mandel has made attacks on Silicon Valley a central theme of his campaign, despite being funded by some of the tech sector’s most prominent financiers,” writes Igor Derysh for Salon.

“Vance worked for Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm founded by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel that came under FBI scrutiny in 2019, before joining Revolution LLC, a tech investment firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Vance has criticized Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for donations to the Democratic Party, even after his fund raised money from the billionaire. In 2019, Vance founded Narya Capital, raising $93 million from tech titans like Thiel, Schmidt and Silicon Valley legend Marc Andreesen,” Derysh continues. 

Playing to an audience of one, Mandel tries desperately to fit in with the anti-tech ‘cool kids’ and beats his chest as he claims he ‘won’t be silenced by Big Tech.’ Then he turns around and funds his campaign with donations from one of “Silicon Valley’s top investors,” the former CEO of Cisco and an executive at a tech firm founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.  

J.D. Vance is also working hard to try to keep up his populist scam and distract from his Big Tech roots while leaning on his controversial Silicon Valley pals Peter Theil — who had his venture capital firm investigated by the FBI — and Robert Mercer — who co-founded Cambridge Analytica — to bankroll his political ambitions. And the Big Tech tycoons are keeping a close eye on their investment as Theil ‘chaperoned Vance’s trip to Mar-a-Lago.’

Journalist Judd Legum sums it up well in the Salon article: “In fact, there is no political candidate more beholden to corporate money and the economic elite than JD Vance.”

Read more from Salon HERE and below:

• Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel received financial backing from technology executives and investors despite railing against “Big Tech” censorship and “ultra-liberal thugs in Silicon Valley” on the campaign trail.
• David Blumberg, managing director of the San Francisco-based venture capital firm Blumberg Capital and one of “Silicon Valley’s top investors,” and his partner Michael Armand donated $21,600 to the Team Josh committee last quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Despite his ties to the tech world, Blumberg has backed Trump and his claims of tech censorship against conservatives while promoting right-wing online media figures like Jordan Peterson and PragerU founder Dennis Prager.
• John Chambers, the former chief executive officer of Cisco who now runs the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm JC2 Ventures, and his wife Elaine Chambers also contributed $10,800 to Team Josh, according to an FEC filing.
• Jordan Blashek, an executive at Schmidt Futures, a Silicon Valley nonprofit founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, also kicked in $5,800 to Team Josh.
• Mandel has made attacks on Silicon Valley a central theme of his campaign, despite being funded by some of the tech sector’s most prominent financiers.
• Like Mandel, Vance has made attacks on “Big Tech” a core component of his fledgling campaign.
• Vance worked for Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm founded by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel that came under FBI scrutiny in 2019, before joining Revolution LLC, a tech investment firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case.
• Thiel, a major Trump donor who has also backed right-wingers like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and multiply-defeated Kansas candidate Kris Kobach, was the first major contributor to a PAC backing Vance’s Senate bid, with a $10 million donation.
• The billionaire Mercer family, which also backed Trump as well as controversial tech ventures like Cambridge Analytica, Breitbart and Parler, joined Thiel in financially supporting Vance’s run.
• “In fact, there is no political candidate more beholden to corporate money and the economic elite than JD Vance,” argued Judd Legum, a journalist at Popular Information who tracks corporate influence in politics. “It’s all a scam, laundering right-wing politics through a phony everyman frame.”

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Late last night, the already out-of-control Republican Senate primary took a dangerous turn when Josh Mandel tweeted pictures of him at a gun store with the caption ‘hunting RINOs with my buds in Delaware County.’ Mandel’s latest tweet — which he later tried to walk back after criticism — is just the latest in a series of dangerous tweets in which his rhetoric against his fellow Republicans becomes much more incendiary, a trend that other candidates in the race have adopted.

“Josh Mandel is willing to do anything to score political points, including make jokes about hunting fellow Republicans. As Josh and the rest of the Republican field sinks lower and lower, all of them are demonstrating to Ohio voters how unqualified they are to serve as U.S. Senator. Void of any substantial ideas for how to make life better for Ohioans, they’re sinking to new lows just to try and seem relevant,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Josh has repeatedly called Gov. Mike DeWine a ‘RINO,’ a Republican In Name Only, and has also used terms like ‘traitor,’ when talking about Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. Mandel’s tweet also comes just months after Republican rhetoric incited a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol that led to five deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Other candidates in the race have followed Mandel down the rabbit hole of attacking their fellow Republicans. As a reminder, there’s still more than a year before the 2022 primary election, so Ohio voters will have to endure several more months of Republicans ignoring them to go after one another.

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