OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 274 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 274’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Sens. Gavarone and Brenner
Effective date:
Emily E. Wendel, Attorney
SUMMARY
Voter identification
 Requires generally that an elector have an Ohio driver’s license or state ID card (Ohio
DL/ID) in order to register to vote or cast absent voter’s ballots by mail, in addition to
the continuing law that requires a photo ID to vote in person.
 Requires election officials to compare an elector’s photo ID with the elector’s
appearance or with a photo on file and, if they do not match, to challenge the elector’s
right to vote.
 Clarifies that when an elector submits a copy of a photo ID, the copy must be legible.
 Expands the uses of the affidavit of religious objection to being photographed to include
voter registration and voting by mail.
 Adds to the information that must be included on the affidavit and the process for the
board of elections to verify it.
 Requires the Secretary of State to compile and send weekly reports to the boards of
elections concerning persons who have submitted affidavits and to make those reports
available to the public.
 Specifies that when an elector registers to vote, applies for or returns absent voter’s
ballots, or casts a provisional ballot, the elector must provide the elector’s full name as
it appears on the elector’s ID, instead of just providing the elector’s name.
 Requires the boards of elections, in the course of the voter registration, voter roll
maintenance, and provisional ballot processes, to use certain databases to attempt to
verify whether a person is a U.S. citizen.
 Requires the person, if the board is unable to make that verification, to provide
specified proof of U.S. citizenship in order to remain registered or to vote.
June 17, 2024
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Voting procedures
In-person voting
 Imposes several new requirements regarding the contents of pollbooks and procedures
for preparing and using them.
 Specifies that, when an elector votes in person, the election officials must compare the
elector’s appearance with the elector’s photo ID and, if they do not match, require the
elector to cast a provisional ballot.
 Relocates and consolidates other provisions regarding challenges of electors by precinct
election officials.
Absent voting by mail
 Requires an elector, when applying to vote by mail, to provide an Ohio DL/ID number or
an affidavit of religious objection to being photographed that includes the last four
digits of the applicant’s Social Security number (SSN-4).
 Requires an applicant to provide the applicant’s full name as it appears on the
applicant’s Ohio DL/ID or Social Security card, as applicable.
 Requires the applicant’s signature to be signed using ink on the paper form, unless the
applicant is a military or overseas voter.
 Requires explicitly that the board of elections, upon receiving a completed application
for absent voter’s ballots, compare the signature on the application with the signature
in the applicant’s registration record.
 Requires a voter, when returning absent voter’s ballots to the board, to provide a copy
of a photo ID or an affidavit of religious objection to being photographed with SSN-4,
and to write the voter’s Ohio DL/ID number on the form if the voter has one.
 Requires the voter to provide the applicant’s full name as it appears on the applicant’s
Ohio DL/ID or Social Security card, as applicable.
 Prohibits a ballot from being counted if the voter does not properly seal the voter’s
ballot inside the ID envelope, unless the voter appears at the office of the board by the
fourth day after Election Day to seal the ballot in the envelope.
 Requires the election officials to compare the photo on the copy of the elector’s photo
ID provided with the ballots (if any) with the photo of the elector in the elector’s
registration record (if any), and requires the ballot to be rejected if the election officials
determine that the photographs do not match.
 Eliminates a provision of current law that allows the election officials to count a ballot if
the ID envelope includes an incorrect birthdate.
 Prohibits a board of elections from opening ballot ID envelopes and scanning the
enclosed ballots before the close of the polls on Election Day.
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 Specifies that if the board receives a provisional ballot cast by an elector who also
apparently returned an absent voter’s ballot, and the provisional ballot is valid and
eligible to be counted, the board generally must count the provisional ballot and reject
the absent voter’s ballot.
Provisional voting
 Requires a provisional voter to provide the voter’s full name as it appears on the voter’s
Ohio DL/ID or, if the voter instead submits an affidavit of religious objection to being
photographed, the voter’s full name as shown on the voter’s Social Security card.
 Eliminates a provision of current law that allows a board of elections to count a
provisional ballot that includes an incorrect birthdate.
 Requires the board, for every provisional ballot, to confirm that the voter is a U.S. citizen
using BMV records, a government database, or a commercial service.
 Specifies that if the board is unable to confirm the voter’s citizenship, the ballot is
eligible to be counted only if the voter appears at the office of the board by the fourth
day after Election Day and provides proof of citizenship.
 Changes the timeline for the board to process provisional ballots that must be cured.
 Makes a technical correction to the provisional ballot affirmation form.
Voter registration
 Amends sections of law that describe the qualifications of an elector in order to match
the language that appears in the Ohio Constitution, as amended in 2022, and to add
references to certain circumstances under continuing law in which a person who lacks
one or more of those qualifications may vote.
 Requires an applicant to provide the applicant’s Ohio DL/ID number, or an affidavit of
religious objection to being photographed with SSN-4, in order to register to vote.
 Prescribes new language to be used on Ohio’s voter registration forms.
 Creates an information sheet that must be provided along with a voter registration
form.
 Defines a “voter registration agency” as all of the agencies that are currently required to
provide voter registration and update forms, including designated agencies and other
entities.
 Modifies the procedures that voter registration agencies must use when they offer voter
registration and update forms to customers.
 Applies several requirements that currently only apply to a designated agency to every
type of voter registration agency.
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 Requires that, if information on file at a voter registration agency identifies a person as
not qualified to vote, the agency must advise the applicant that the applicant is not
qualified to register.
 Requires a voter registration agency to review each completed voter registration form
to validate that the information entered on the form corresponds to information on file
at the agency, if applicable, and advise the applicant to correct any invalid information.
 Eliminates a provision specifying that a registration form must not be rejected solely on
the basis that a compensated voter registration worker failed to sign the form and
provide the worker’s address and employer.
Processing voter registrations and updates
 Requires each board of elections to have a computerized voter registration system that
meets a number of technical requirements.
 Requires a county’s voter registration system to automatically validate voter data when
an elector is registered and during the voter roll maintenance processes by comparing
the information in the system against information the Secretary of State obtains from
federal, state, and local agencies, the U.S. Postal Service, colleges and universities, and
commercial sources.
 Prescribes detailed procedures for the boards to use in processing and verifying voter
registration applications and update forms.
 Replaces references to change of address and change of name forms with references to
voter registration update forms.
 Clarifies that if a person who is already registered anywhere in Ohio submits a
registration application, the form operates as an update form and must be processed
using the same procedures as for a new registration.
 Specifies that when an elector moves into Ohio from another state, the elector’s
registration form operates as an authorization to cancel the elector’s out-of-state
registration, instead of requiring the elector to sign a separate cancellation form.
 Adds a new requirement that a person’s registration record include a photo of the
person if the board is able to obtain one from Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) records.
 Requires the board to verify that the applicant is a U.S. citizen.
 Changes the procedures that apply when an elector’s acknowledgment notice is
returned to the board as undeliverable.
 Requires the Statewide Voter Registration Database (SWVRD) and county registration
records to include an elector’s voting history for the current calendar year and at least
the previous 19 years.
 Changes the format of the voter registration record ID numbers to be used statewide.
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Voter roll maintenance
 Requires the boards to carry out a new set of voter roll maintenance procedures on a
weekly basis.
 Adds a universal requirement that a board of elections send a written notice to an
elector at the elector’s registration address when the board cancels the elector’s
registration.
 Requires that canceled voter registration records in the SWVRD and county registration
systems be stored in a physically separate database from current voter registration
records.
Access to voter registration systems
 Requires that the servers and other equipment associated with voter registration
systems be physically located in facilities in Ohio under the control of election officials.
 Requires any election official who has the authority to administer a voter registration
system or to create, modify, or cancel any record in the system be a U.S. citizen and a
resident of Ohio, and have no criminal record involving dishonesty, moral turpitude, or
any violation of election or immigration laws.
Voter registration database audits
 Requires the Secretary of State to engage a commercial service to perform monthly
evaluations of the accuracy of the information in the SWVRD, the weekly reports
generated for database maintenance purposes, and county voter registration systems.
 Requires the Auditor of State annually to audit the SWVRD and three counties’
registration systems.
 Requires the Auditor to conduct an additional audit of a county’s voter registration
system for the entire county or for a particular precinct or precincts, upon the request
of the Secretary or of the county’s board of elections.
Public voter registration records
 Adds to the information and functionality that must be available to the public through
the version of the SWVRD on the Secretary of State’s website.
Pre-election registration challenges and corrections
 Clarifies that any qualified elector of Ohio, not just an elector of that particular county,
may challenge an elector’s right to vote.
 Allows an elector who files a challenge to challenge multiple electors’ right to vote by
filing a single document that identifies each elector whose right to vote is challenged.
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Voting system standards
Hand counted paper ballots
 Provides procedures for a county to adopt the use of hand counted paper ballots
instead of voting machines, marking devices, or automatic tabulating equipment.
Board of Voting Systems Examiners
 Renames the Board of Voting Machine Examiners as the Board of Voting Systems
Examiners.
 Requires the Board to examine and recommend voter registration systems in addition to
other equipment.
 Retains the current structure of the Board but changes the qualifications members must
have.
 Modifies the law that prohibits a voting system from being certified if officials have a
conflict of interest regarding the vendor.
Process for certifying a voting system
 Adds a number of criteria the Board must consider when determining whether to
recommend that the Secretary of State certify a voting system.
 Eliminates the Board’s ability to give a county permission to use a voting system on an
experimental basis in a limited number of precincts in the county.
 Allows the Board to prescribe the fee a voting system vendor must pay when seeking
certification, instead of the current statutory fee of $2,400.
 Eliminates provisions that require a vendor or computer software developer to place
source code in escrow.
 Modifies the process that applies when a vendor makes changes to a certified voting
system and when a system may be decertified.
Criteria for voting system approval and certification
 Requires the Secretary of State’s rules for the certification of voting systems to be
adopted under the Administrative Procedure Act.
 Requires a voting system to meet or exceed the most recently adopted Election
Assistance Commission voluntary voting system guideline certification standards.
 Eliminates a provision of law that states that the Secretary may follow or adopt
guidelines proposed by the Federal Election Commission.
 Requires the vendor to demonstrate a number of factors related to cybersecurity and to
comply with an enhanced risk assessment framework.
 Requires the Board to engage one or more qualified cybersecurity reviewers to conduct
a cybersecurity review of the system.
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 Requires every certified computerized voting system in Ohio to undergo periodic
cybersecurity testing, including penetration testing, by one or more cybersecurity
reviewers.
 Requires election officials to make certain documentation available to the public online.
Particular types of voting systems
 Requires a voter registration system to be capable of meeting several technical
requirements.
 Requires the Secretary of State to create, maintain, and publish guides for voting system
vendors that describe all of the applicable requirements for voter registration systems.
 Adds to the certification criteria for electronic pollbooks.
 Prohibits an electronic pollbook from being connected to the internet or a
telecommunications network while the polls are open on Election Day and until the
electronic pollbook is returned to the board of elections.
 Prohibits a voting machine from being connected to a telecommunications network, in
addition to the c