hb893_00

As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 893

2025-2026

To amend sections 3501.11 and 3501.29 of the Revised Code to require the boards of elections to minimize the standing time while waiting to vote for voters who experience difficulty standing for a prolonged period.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 3501.11 and 3501.29 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3501.11. Each board of elections shall exercise by a majority vote all powers granted to the board by Title XXXV of the Revised Code, shall perform all the duties imposed by law, and shall do all of the following:

(A) Establish, define, provide, rearrange, and combine election precincts;

(B) Fix and provide the places for registration and for holding primaries and elections;

(C) Provide for the purchase, preservation, and maintenance of booths, ballot boxes, books, maps, flags, blanks, cards of instructions, and other forms, papers, and equipment used in registration, nominations, and elections;

(D) Appoint and remove its director, deputy director, and employees and all registrars, precinct election officials, and other officers of elections, fill vacancies, and designate the ward or district and precinct in which each shall serve;

(E) Make and issue rules and instructions, not inconsistent with law or the rules, directives, or advisories issued by the secretary of state, as it considers necessary for the guidance of election officers and voters;

(F) Advertise and contract for the printing of all ballots and other supplies used in registrations and elections;

(G) Provide for the issuance of all notices, advertisements, and publications concerning elections, except as otherwise provided in division (G) of section 3501.17 and divisions (F) and (G) of section 3505.062 of the Revised Code;

(H) Provide for the delivery of ballots, pollbooks, and other required papers and material to the polling places;

(I) Cause the polling places to be suitably provided with voting machines, marking devices, automatic tabulating equipment, stalls, and other required supplies. In fulfilling this duty, each board of a county that uses voting machines, marking devices, or automatic tabulating equipment shall conduct a full vote of the board during a public session of the board on the allocation and distribution of voting machines, marking devices, and automatic tabulating equipment for each precinct in the county.

(J) Investigate irregularities, nonperformance of duties, or violations of Title XXXV of the Revised Code by election officers and other persons; administer oaths, issue subpoenas, summon witnesses, and compel the production of books, papers, records, and other evidence in connection with any such investigation; and report the facts to the prosecuting attorney or the secretary of state;

(K)(1) Review, examine, and certify the sufficiency and validity of petitions and nomination papers, and, after certification, return to the secretary of state all petitions and nomination papers that the secretary of state forwarded to the board;

(2) Examine each initiative petition, or a petition filed under section 307.94 or 307.95 of the Revised Code, received by the board to determine whether the petition falls within the scope of authority to enact via initiative and whether the petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on the ballot, as described in division (M) of section 3501.38 of the Revised Code. The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power.

(L) Receive the returns of elections, canvass the returns, make abstracts of them, and transmit those abstracts to the proper authorities;

(M) Issue certificates of election on forms to be prescribed by the secretary of state;

(N) Make an annual report to the secretary of state, on the form prescribed by the secretary of state, containing a statement of the number of voters registered, elections held, votes cast, appropriations received, expenditures made, and other data required by the secretary of state;

(O) Prepare and submit to the proper appropriating officer a budget estimating the cost of elections for the ensuing fiscal year;

(P) Perform other duties as prescribed by law or the rules, directives, or advisories of the secretary of state;

(Q) Investigate and determine the residence qualifications of electors;

(R) Administer oaths in matters pertaining to the administration of the election laws;

(S) Prepare and submit to the secretary of state, whenever the secretary of state requires, a report containing the names and residence addresses of all incumbent county, municipal, township, and board of education officials serving in their respective counties;

(T) Establish and maintain a voter registration database of all qualified electors in the county who offer to register;

(U) Maintain voter registration records, make reports concerning voter registration as required by the secretary of state, and remove ineligible electors from voter registration lists in accordance with law and directives of the secretary of state;

(V) Give approval to ballot language for any local question or issue and transmit the language to the secretary of state for the secretary of state's final approval;

(W) Prepare and cause the following notice to be displayed in a prominent location in every polling place:

"NOTICE

Ohio law prohibits any person from voting or attempting to vote more than once at the same election.

Violators are guilty of a felony of the fourth degree and shall be imprisoned and additionally may be fined in accordance with law."

(X) In all cases of a tie vote or a disagreement in the board, if no decision can be arrived at, the director or chairperson shall submit the matter in controversy, not later than fourteen days after the tie vote or the disagreement, to the secretary of state, who shall summarily decide the question, and the secretary of state's decision shall be final.

(Y) Assist each designated agency, deputy registrar of motor vehicles, public high school and vocational school, public library, and office of a county treasurer in the implementation of a program for registering voters at all voter registration locations as prescribed by the secretary of state. Under this program, each board of elections shall direct to the appropriate board of elections any voter registration applications for persons residing outside the county where the board is located within five days after receiving the applications.

(Z) On any day on which an elector may vote in person at the office of the board or at another site designated by the board, consider the board or other designated site a polling place for that day. All requirements or prohibitions of law that apply to a polling place shall apply to the office of the board or other designated site on that day.

(AA) Perform any duties with respect to voter registration and voting by uniformed services and overseas voters that are delegated to the board by law or by the rules, directives, or advisories of the secretary of state.

(BB) Prepare an election administration plan and submit it to the secretary of state not later than seventy-five days before each presidential primary election and not later than one hundred twenty days before each general election held in an even-numbered year. The election administration plan shall be on a template prescribed by the secretary of state and shall include all of the following:

(1) Precinct election official recruitment, training, and accountability;

(2) Resource allocation;

(3) Communication before and on the day of the election;

(4) Materials;

(5) Contingencies and continuity planning;

(6) Security;

(7) Voter registration;

(8) Absent voting;

(9) Polling places and accessibility, including the accommodation plan described in division (C)(2) of section 3501.29 of the Revised Code;

(10) Ballot preparation;

(11) Pre-election testing;

(12) Reconciliation and audits;

(13) A master calendar;

(14) Any other topic prescribed by the secretary of state.

Sec. 3501.29. (A) The board of elections shall provide for each precinct a polling place and provide adequate facilities at each polling place for conducting the election. The board shall provide a sufficient number of screened or curtained voting compartments to which electors may retire and conveniently mark their ballots, protected from the observation of others. Each voting compartment shall be provided at all times with writing implements, instructions how to vote, and other necessary conveniences for marking the ballot. The voting location manager shall ensure that the voting compartments at all times are adequately lighted and contain the necessary supplies. The board shall utilize, in so far as practicable, rooms in public schools and other public buildings for polling places. Upon application of the board of elections, the authority which has the control of any building or grounds supported by taxation under the laws of this state, shall make available the necessary space therein for the purpose of holding elections and adequate space for the storage of voting machines, without charge for the use thereof. A reasonable sum may be paid for necessary janitorial service. When polling places are established in private buildings, the board may pay a reasonable rental therefor, and also the cost of liability insurance covering the premises when used for election purposes, or the board may purchase a single liability policy covering the board and the owners of the premises when used for election purposes. When removable buildings are supplied by the board, they shall be constructed under the contract let to the lowest and best bidder, and the board shall observe all ordinances and regulations then in force as to safety. The board shall remove all such buildings from streets and other public places within thirty days after an election, unless another election is to be held within ninety days.

(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the board shall ensure all of the following:

(a) That polling places are free of barriers that would impede ingress and egress of persons with disabilities;

(b) That the minimum number of accessible parking locations for persons with mobility disabilities are designated at each polling place in accordance with 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A, and in compliance with division (E) of section 4511.69 of the Revised Code;

(c) That the entrances of polling places are level or are provided with a nonskid ramp that meets the requirements of the "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990," 104 Stat. 327, 42 U.S.C. 12101;

(d) That doors are a minimum of thirty-two inches wide.

(2) Notwithstanding division (B)(1)(a), (c), or (d) of this section, certain polling places may be specifically exempted by the secretary of state upon certification by a board of elections that a good faith, but unsuccessful, effort has been made to modify, or change the location of, such polling places.

~~(C)~~ (C)(1) The board of elections shall permit any elector with a disability who travels to that elector's polling place, but who is physically unable to enter the polling place, to vote, with the assistance of two polling place officials of major political parties, in the vehicle that conveyed that elector to the polling place, or to receive and cast that elector's ballot at the door of the polling place. Under no other circumstance may an elector vote in a vehicle or at the door of a polling place.

(2) For each polling place, the board of elections shall create an accommodation plan to minimize the time voters who experience difficulty in standing for a prolonged period must stand while waiting to sign the pollbook or to cast their ballots. The board shall train the precinct election officials to execute the plan and shall provide any necessary equipment and signage. The plan shall require the precinct election officials to offer the accommodation to all voters, but no voter is required to use any such accommodation. The plan may include any of the following:

(a) A priority waiting line that serves voters who experience difficulty in standing for a prolonged period before serving any other voter who enters the line;

(b) A designated seating area that voters may use while waiting to sign the pollbook or to cast a ballot;

(D) The secretary of state shall:

(1) Work with other state agencies to facilitate the distribution of information and technical assistance to boards of elections to meet the requirements of division (B) of this section;

(2) Work with organizations that represent or provide services to citizens who are elderly or who have disabilities to effect a wide dissemination of information about the availability of absentee voting, voting in the voter's vehicle or at the door of the polling place, or other election services to citizens who are elderly or who have disabilities.

(E) Before the day of an election, the director of the board of elections of each county shall sign a statement verifying that each polling place that will be used in that county at that election meets the requirements of division (B)(1)(b) of this section. The signed statement shall be sent to the secretary of state by certified mail or electronically.

Section 2. That existing sections 3501.11 and 3501.29 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. Section 3501.29 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both H.B. 281 and H.B. 458 of the 134th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized and reconciled if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act.