League of Women Voters of Ohio

Are you ready to end gerrymandering in Ohio? Same! Go here to take the pledge to vote VOTE YES on Issue 1 now, and share with your friends and family to show your support for fair maps: https://bit.ly/pledge-to-vote-yes-for-fair-maps

What we see on our ballot might not tell the full story about what a proposed amendment or statute would do.

If passed by voters, the new law would be the same as what the law’s sponsors wrote, not the summary written by the state.

Always read the full text of an issue BEFORE you go to vote. Go to ohiosos.gov/legislation-and-ballot-issues/ballot-board/ to read proposed amendments and statutes.

The history of women's suffrage is not perfect. But today and every day, we want to remind all women that they hold enormous power in our elections. Together, women power democracy.

Make your plan to vote at VOTE411.org.

Mis- and disinformation is everywhere, but we have agency- we can help make it better, or help make it worse.

Here are 4️⃣ simple things you can do to help:
✅ DO verify before you share: Consider the source, check the date, and cross-check the information across outlets
✅ DO question the content: Read past the headlines and question emotionally charged content
✅ DO share accurate information: Without mentioning the wrong info, set the record straight by sharing the correct messages
✅ DO report it: Report inaccurate info to social media platforms, group administrators, and election officials

And 2️⃣ things to avoid:
❌ DON'T click or share: If you quote the bad info, you help spread it
❌ DON'T engage publicly: If someone you know is sharing bad info, message them privately and ask them to take it down

"This is just another example of why we need to get politicians out of redistricting. They ignore the law over and over, insult voters, and do anything they can to protect themselves and their cronies."

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio on the amendment language voted on today by the Ohio Ballot Board.

Tomorrow, the Ohio Ballot Board will announce the issue number for the Citizens Not Politicians amendment and tell the public what the ballot language – what voters see when they go to vote – will be. The writers of this language are the same politicians who stand to lose when voters hold them accountable, so having them write this seems... not great! We'll be at the Statehouse tomorrow to show our support for fair maps. Event details here, and read more in the comments: https://bit.ly/StatehouseEventInfo

Voting makes us powerful. Find your power- register by October 7 at voteohio.gov.

Ohio has 2 ways to register to vote- online or by mail.

📲Online is great if you have an Ohio driver's license or Ohio BMV-issued state ID, and if you've got access to the internet
📬 By mail is great if you don't have an Ohio ID, since you can use the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. You can print the registration form from voteohio.gov or have someone do it for you, then fill it out and mail it to your county Board of Elections. You can go to your Board of Elections in person, too.

For the next few months, it's going to feel like everyone is yelling at you. Trust x, no, trust y! There are many wonderful good government organizations – like us!– who provide trusted information about elections, but there are groups floating around passing mis- and disinformation, so it's important to be extra careful about where you get your info and what info you share.

We recommend verifying the information through our Ohio Secretary of State at voteohio.gov and ohiosos.gov, or through your county Boards of Election, whose website address will end with .gov. You can always give your Board of Election a call, too, and talk with an actual human!

❓Ohio BMV-issued driver’s license and Ohio state IDs can now be added to AppleWallet. Does this mean we can use the ID on our phone to vote?

❌ NO! Digital IDs are NOT considered acceptable ID for voting in Ohio. Ohio voters still need their physical license to vote in person during early vote and on Election Day.

These are the only kinds of ID accepted to vote in person in Ohio:
➡️Ohio driver's license
➡️State of Ohio ID card
➡️Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV
➡️US passport
➡️US passport card
➡️US military ID card
➡️Ohio National Guard ID card
➡️US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card

One year ago today! Last August 8, Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters came together to resoundingly a cynical attempt by our state legislature to limit our power in citizen initiatives. Ohioans from across the state voted to protect One Person, One Vote and Majority Rule, two of the most sacred principles in our democracy.

This year, we're fighting to end gerrymandering in Ohio. Gerrymandering undermines those same principles by letting politicians rig district boundaries in their favor, taking power from some voters to give to others for their own benefit. And guess what? We're gonna win again. Follow us, Citizens Not Politicians, and Fair Districts Coalition to get updates.

From the bottom of our democracy-loving hearts: THANK YOU, OHIO VOTERS.

We were excited– really! – to attend a meeting of the Board of Voting Machine Examiners today at the Verify Ohio by Ohio Secretary of State office to learn more about what to expect for the fall election. Many meetings held by state and county election officials welcome public visitors, and provide opportunity get to know the work happening year round to keep our elections safe and secure. Go to ohiosos.gov to see what else is going on at your county Board of Elections or at the state level.

Check your voter registration or register to vote for the first time at voteohio.gov.

59 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The VRA, as this law is often called, removed race-based restrictions on voting, making us a real democracy for the first time in our history.

We honor this day and those who fought and sacrificed to make it happen AND know that we are not finished working to make sure all Americans have voting rights. Every day, we are working to stop modern barriers to voting like election disinformation, gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, and provide support for voter education, election workers, and laws that help us continue America's journey toward a more perfect union.

Learn more about us, join a local Ohio League, or support our work at lwvohio.org.

🤯Election Day is 3 months from today!
📲Got to voteohio.gov and make a plan to:
🪧 Register to vote or update your registration by October 7
🪪Make sure you’ve got the right ID and check that it won’t expire before you vote
📬Decide HOW to vote: by mail, early in person, or in person on Election Day
👨🏾‍💻Research candidates & issues
🗳VOTE!
🫂Help friends & family with all of above

Today is Poll Worker Recruitment Day! Every voter should get to have an easy and efficient experience at the polls, and you can help create that by becoming a poll worker AND recruiting poll workers. Sign up to be a poll worker and help make sure our elections are accessible and run as smoothly as possible.

Sign up with your county Board of Elections to help your neighbors vote, or go to https://www.powerthepolls.org/LWV

See the rest of retired Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor’s statement on Governor DeWine’s press conference at the link in our stories.

Read the rest of retired Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor's statement on Governor DeWine's press conference today here:
https://www.citizensnotpoliticians.org/statement-from-retired-chief-justice-maureen-oconnor-regarding-news-conference-by-gov-dewine/

How would the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment work if passed? We’re so glad you asked! Here’s 66 seconds well worth your time.

The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment: Get the Facts Get the facts about gerrymandering in Ohio. Let's put citizens, not career politicians, in charge of redistricting.

If you're not at the table, you're probably on the menu.

Register to vote by October 7 at voteohio.gov.

Ohio voters have 3 ways to cast their ballot!
🗳Vote in person on Election Day at your neighborhood polling place
📅 Vote early in person at your county vote center
📬 Vote by mail with an absentee ballot

Swipe to see which way is best for you, and go to voteohio.gov to check your registration or register for the first time.

More great news! The Citizens Not Politicians will be on the ballot this fall– thank you to EVERYONE who helped us get here. Now let's go win this thing!

To volunteer with our Fair Districts Coalition, sign up today: https://tinyurl.com/HelpUsEndGerrymanderingInOhio

🎉🎉🎉A federal judge ruled in our favor yesterday in the League of Women Voters vs. LaRose, deciding that an Ohio election law violates rights of voters with disabilities.

A provision of HB 458, the voting law omnibus signed into law by Governor DeWine last spring, made it a felony for anyone who is not an election official or mail carrier to possess or return the absentee ballot of a voter with a disability, unless the person assisting that voter falls within a narrow list of relatives.

This provision has now been struck down. 🎉🎉🎉

🗳More voting rights =
💪Stronger democracy.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/OhioElectionLawViolatesVRA

In moments of history, everyone has an opinion. Before you share, make sure to verify the facts. Wanting something to be true doesn't make it so- always check the facts before you post online.

The League of Women Voters of the United States, as a member organization of the National Task Force of Election Crises, released a statement on the Democratic party replacing its presumptive nominee.

Read the full statement at LWV.org/newsroom

Happy birthday to this guy, who squandered his legacy so generations of politicians from all political parties could cheat democracy.

🎂Do you have a birthday between now and Election Day?
📅Check your ID to see when it expires.
🪪If it expires this year, get a new ID BEFORE you vote.

We were so proud to host our first Election Protection Summit with our Ohio Voter Rights Coalition partners, and prouder still to learn, listen, and teach with these democracy heroes.

We know these are complicated days, but when we come together our strength and commitment will continue to empower voters and protect democracy.

Lifting this up again because we always see extra disinformation during a breaking news period. Check multiple sources, be wary of content that would make you or others especially emotional, and only share accurate info– don't repeat disinformation, it just gives it more oxygen.

Be the person your community looks to for reliable and responsible information. You're needed now more than ever.

Right now, the Ohio Secretary of State and all of Ohio's 88 county Boards of Elections are verifying signatures that the Citizens Not Politicians campaign submitted last week. So we thought this would be a great time to go through what it actually takes to get a citizen initiative that proposes amending the Ohio Constitution onto the ballot. Buckle up– it's a lot!

The Secretary's team has until July 23 to certify the signatures, and if the campaign has the required amount, the amendment goes to the Ohio Ballot Board.

The citizen initiative is one of the best tools we have to make change when our legislators won't. But don't let anyone tell you it's easy!