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A panel of lawmakers on Monday shot down a request by Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State that would have allowed his office to pay for postage for mail-in ballots.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wanted approval from the Ohio Controlling Board to take $3 million from a fund his office controls for postage for mail-in ballots.
“It incentivizes getting the ballots back quickly,” LaRose said. “It doesn’t have any impact in a partisan way. It doesn’t benefit the Republicans. It doesn’t benefit the Democrats. What it does is benefit voters as an added convenience and it benefits our boards of elections by getting those ballots back in the mail very quickly.”
Some of the seven board members were concerned about making the change so close to the election, and pointed out Ohioans have more than one way to vote.
Early, in-person voting at local boards of elections across the state begins Oct. 6.
Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.
