Ohioans would be required to present photo ID at the voting booth and have fewer days to apply for absentee ballots or to vote early in person under a significantly rewritten bill that sped through committee and floor votes in the Ohio Senate on Tuesday.
The legislation, which cleared the Republican-controlled chamber 24-6, is the more stringent of two sweeping election law overhauls speeding through the Statehouse in the final days of the legislative session.
Democrats and voting rights advocates have blasted both measures as creating a litany of unnecessary new hurdles for Ohio voters, while GOP lawmakers have said they are protecting the integrity of Ohio’s elections.
But neither bill’s fate is secured.