OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 147 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 147’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Reynolds
Effective date:
Emily E. Wendel, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Enacts the Voter Registration Modernization Act, which changes Ohio’s primary
elections to a closed primary system in which an elector must be registered as affiliated
with a political party in order to vote that party’s ballot at a primary.
Political party registration
 Specifies that an elector who is registered in Ohio before the bill takes effect keeps the
elector’s current party affiliation as of the bill’s effective date based on the elector’s
recent voting history, unless and until the elector submits a voter registration update
with a different party affiliation.
 Allows a new registrant or a currently registered elector who wishes to change
affiliation to indicate a party affiliation on the person’s voter registration or update form
or to register as unaffiliated.
 Requires a newly registered elector to register as affiliated with a party by the 30 th day
before the day of the primary in order to vote that party’s ballot at the primary.
 Makes electors’ party affiliations available to the public online through the Statewide
Voter Registration Database, the same as their primary voting histories currently are
available.
 Requires a voter registration acknowledgment notice to show the elector’s current party
affiliation, if any.
 Adds information about party registration to the required contents of the Secretary of
State’s brochure about voter registration and to the disclosures that must be included
when a voter registration activity is part of a public school program.
September 20, 2023
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Primary election voting procedures
 Requires an elector to be registered as affiliated with a political party in order to vote
that party’s ballot at the primary.
 Allows an elector who is not registered as affiliated with a party by the applicable
deadline to cast a provisional ballot in that party’s primary.
 Continues to allow any elector, regardless of affiliation, to cast an issues-only ballot on
the day of a primary election.
Candidacy requirements
 Requires a candidate to be registered as affiliated with a party in order to appear on
that party’s primary ballot.
 Requires a person who signs or circulates a primary candidate’s petition to be registered
as affiliated with that party as of the time the petition is verified.
 Requires a person who files a protest against a primary candidate’s candidacy to be
registered as affiliated with that party.
 Requires an independent candidate to be registered as unaffiliated by the independent
filing deadline in order to run as an independent candidate.
 Allows any elector to sign an independent candidate’s nominating petition, as under
current law.
Newly formed political parties
 Permits any elector to sign a party formation petition to allow a new political party to be
recognized by the state, as under current law.
 Requires candidates of a newly formed political party who are to be nominated by
petition to be registered as affiliated with the new party.
 Requires an elector to be either registered as affiliated with the new party or registered
as unaffiliated in order to sign such a nominating petition.
Technical changes
 Reorganizes provisions of law regarding voter registration to consolidate repetitive
language and eliminate obsolete provisions, without making substantive changes.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
The bill, called the Voter Registration Modernization Act,1 changes Ohio’s primary
elections to a closed primary system, meaning that a person must be registered as affiliated
1 Section 4 of the bill.
P a g e |2 S.B. 147
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
with a political party in order to vote in that party’s primary. Ohio’s current system is essentially
an open primary system, in which a person may request any party’s ballot at a primary so long
as the person claims to be a member of that party, and there is no mechanism to change party
affiliations between primary elections.
Political party registration
Currently registered electors
An elector who is registered in Ohio before the bill takes effect keeps the elector’s
current party affiliation as of the bill’s effective date, unless and until the elector submits a
voter registration update with a different party affiliation. Under existing law, an elector is
considered to be affiliated with the party whose ballot the elector most recently cast at a
primary election held during the current calendar year or the previous two calendar years. If
the elector did not cast any party’s primary ballot during that time period, the elector is
considered unaffiliated.2
Method of party registration
For new registrants, and for currently registered electors who wish to change affiliation
after the bill takes effect, the bill allows a person to indicate a party affiliation on the person’s
voter registration or “voter registration update form,” a new catchall term for change of name,
change of address, or change of party affiliation. The Secretary of State must add all of the
following to Ohio’s voter registration forms:
 A list of the political parties that are currently recognized in Ohio, along with checkboxes
to select one;
 A space to write the name of a recognized party that is not listed on the form (for
instance, a newly formed party);
 A box for the person to check to indicate that the person does not wish to be affiliated
with any party;
 A notice that the person may choose only one recognized party and that the person is
not required to choose any party.
If a person leaves the party affiliation section of the form blank, then the person’s
previous affiliation status is retained. That is, if the person is not currently registered as
affiliated with any party, does not select or write the name of a party, and does not indicate
that the person does not wish to be affiliated with any party, the person remains unaffiliated. If
the person is currently affiliated with a party, does not select or write the name of a party, and
does not indicate that the person does not wish to be affiliated with any party, the person
remains affiliated with the person’s current party. The table below summarizes these
outcomes.
2 R.C. 3503.071(A)(2), 3513.05, and 3513.19(A)(3).
P a g e |3 S.B. 147
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Party Affiliation and Voter Registration Forms
Outcome if the voter is Outcome if the voter is
Action
already Affiliated Unaffiliated
Affiliates with the same or Stays affiliated or changes Becomes affiliated with the
different party. affiliation. party.
Checks the “does not wish to Becomes unaffiliated. Remains unaffiliated.
be affiliated” box.
Leaves the affiliation section Stays affiliated with previous Remains unaffiliated.
blank. party.
The new party affiliation fields must appear on all types of voter registration forms,
including the online form. But, the bill does not add those fields to the provisional ballot
affirmation form, which operates as a voter registration form if the provisional voter is not
registered under the voter’s current information. A provisional voter who wishes to establish or
change party affiliation must submit a separate form. (Including those fields on the provisional
ballot envelope would result in ballots being identifiable by party affiliation before the board of
elections determines whether they should be counted.)3
Deadline to change affiliation
Under the bill, a person who has not previously been registered to vote in Ohio must
register as affiliated with a party by the 30th day before the day of the primary in order to vote
that party’s ballot at the primary. This is the same as the deadline to register to vote in any
election.4
Acknowledgment notices
Under the bill, when a board of elections processes a voter registration or update, the
acknowledgment notice the board sends to the elector must include the elector’s party
affiliation, if any.5
Public records
The bill requires that an elector’s current party affiliation, if any, appear in the online
version of the Statewide Voter Registration Database that is available to the public. Currently,
3 R.C. 3503.071, 3503.14, 3503.20, and 3503.23 and conforming changes in R.C. 3503.09, 3503.10,
3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.16, and 3503.19. See also R.C. 3505.182, not in the bill.
4 R.C. 3503.19 and 3513.18.
5 R.C. 3503.19(C).
P a g e |4 S.B. 147
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
an elector’s party affiliation is available to the public through that same database as part of the
elector’s voting history.6
Voter information
The bill requires the Secretary of State’s information brochure about voter registration
to include information about the manner in which a person may establish or change the
person’s political party affiliation.
Additionally, the bill requires that, if a voter registration activity is part of a public high
school or vocational school program, the district board of education must notify students that
registering as affiliated with a party, or registering and remaining unaffiliated, will not affect or
be a condition of receiving a particular grade in or credit for a school course or class,
participating in a curricular or extracurricular activity, receiving a benefit or privilege, or
participating in a program or activity otherwise available to other students. This is the same as
the notice that currently must be given to students regarding their decision to register or
decline to register to vote as part of a school program.7
Primary election voting procedures
Party voters
Under the bill, an elector must be registered as affiliated with a political party as of the
30th day before a primary election in order to vote that party’s ballot at that primary election.
The pollbooks for a primary election must include each elector’s registered affiliation, if
any, and any date of affiliation change. If an elector requests a party’s ballot and the election
officials find that the elector is not registered as affiliated with that party or changed affiliation
as of 30 days before the election, the elector may cast a provisional ballot in that party’s
primary. If the board of elections ultimately determines that the elector is not registered as
affiliated with that party or missed the deadline to change affiliation, the provisional ballot
must not be counted.
Current law allows an elector to request the ballot of any political party at a primary
election. If the elector voted another party’s ballot at the last primary election, the Revised
Code permits the election officials to challenge the elector on the ground that the elector is not
actually affiliated with that party. The Secretary of State instructs election officials not to bring
such a challenge unless they have personal knowledge that the elector is not affiliated with that
party, based on more than the elector’s voting history as shown in the pollbook.
Under current law, upon being challenged, the elector may sign a statement under
penalty of election falsification that the elector desires to be affiliated with and supports the
principles of the party whose ballot the elector has requested. After signing the statement, the
elector may cast a regular ballot for that party. If the elector refuses to sign the statement, the
6 R.C. 3503.15(G).
7 R.C. 3503.10(G)(4) and 3503.28.
P a g e |5 S.B. 147
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
elector instead must cast a provisional ballot. The bill repeals these provisions as, under the bill,
a person must be affiliated with a party 30 days before the primary election in order to vote in
that election.8
Issues-only voters
Under continuing law, any elector may choose to vote only on the questions or issues
appearing on the ballot at a special election held on the day of a primary election. The bill
specifies that an elector who is registered as unaffiliated may vote on those questions or issues
but may not cast a party ballot.9
Candidacy requirements
Party candidates
The bill also requires a candidate to be registered as affiliated with a party by the
candidate’s filing deadline in order to appear on the party’s primary ballot. Current law
generally does not require a candidate to be affiliated with a political party, based on the
candidate’s primary voting history, in order to appear on the ballot at that party’s primary
election. A candidate may vote in party A’s primary and then, two years later, seek party B’s
nomination for an office. No procedure currently exists to declare a change of party affiliation
between primary elections.
A continuing law exception exists for a current officeholder who was nominated for the
person’s office by one party and later wishes to run for another party’s nomination – for
example, a person who was elected to the House of Representatives as party A’s candidate in
2022, and wishes to run for reelection in 2024 as a candidate for party B. The law allows the
person to change affiliation in that manner only once every ten years. (Under continuing law,
this restriction does not apply to a candidate who becomes a member of a newly recognized
political party.) The bill retains the ten-year restriction, and also requires the candidate to
register as affiliated with the candidate’s new party, via a voter registration update form and a
continuing law declaration of intent, by no later than 4:00 p.m. of the 30th day before the filing
deadline for the declaration of candidacy and petition.
Finally, the bill eliminates a provision of current law that states that, if a candidate who
appears on a party’s ballot at a primary election and wins the nomination votes in another
party’s primary at that same election, the candidate must forfeit the nomination. This scenario
8 R.C. 3513.18 and 3513.19; repeal of R.C. 3513.20; and conforming changes in R.C. 3505.181 and
3509.07. See also Ohio Secretary of State, Precinct Election Official Training Manual (PDF), p. 46 (March
20, 2023), available at ohiosecretaryofstate.gov under “Elections & Voting,” “Elections Officials,”
“Election Officials’ Resources.”
9 R.C. 3513.18(B).
P a g e |6 S.B. 147
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
is no longer possible under the bill because the candidate would not be allowed to vote in a
different party’s primary.10
Petition signers and circulators
The bill requires a person who signs or circulates a primary candidate’s petition to be
registered as affiliated with that party as of the time the petition is verified.
Under current law, a person must be affiliated with a party in order to sign or circulate a
primary candidate’s petition, based on the party whose primary ballot the person most recently
cast during the current and last two calendar years. An exception exists to allow a candidate
who is changing parties to circulate the candidate’s own petition.11
Protests against party candidates
Similarly, the bill requires an elector who files a protest against a primary candidate’s
candidacy to be registered as affiliated with that party. Under existing law, the elector must
have voted that party’s ballot at the most recent primary election in the current year