Ohio HB 470: Create an automatic voter registration system

Bill Text

As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 470
2025-2026
Representative Upchurch
Cosponsors: Representatives Brownlee, Mohamed, Lett, McNally, Brennan, Brent,
Grim, Russo
To amend sections 3501.05, 3503.09, 3503.12,
3503.13, 3503.16, 3503.19, 3503.21, 3503.28,
3503.30, 3503.33, 3505.181, 3505.183, 3599.11,
3599.18, 4506.07, 4507.06, and 4507.51; to enact
new section 3503.11; and to repeal section
3503.11 of the Revised Code to create an
automatic voter registration system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3501.05, 3503.09, 3503.12,
3503.13, 3503.16, 3503.19, 3503.21, 3503.28, 3503.30, 3503.33,
3505.181, 3505.183, 3599.11, 3599.18, 4506.07, 4507.06, and
4507.51 be amended and new section 3503.11 of the Revised Code
be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3501.05. The secretary of state shall do all of the
following:
(A) Appoint all members of boards of elections;
(B) Issue instructions by directives and advisories in
accordance with section 3501.053 of the Revised Code to members
of the boards as to the proper methods of conducting elections.
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H. B. No. 470 Page 2
As Introduced
(C) Prepare rules and instructions for the conduct of
elections;
(D) Publish and furnish to the boards from time to time a
sufficient number of indexed copies of all election laws then in
force;
(E) Edit and issue all pamphlets concerning proposed laws
or amendments required by law to be submitted to the voters;
(F) Prescribe the form of registration cards, blanks, and
records;
(G) Determine and prescribe the forms of ballots and the
forms of all blanks, cards of instructions, pollbooks, tally
sheets, certificates of election, and forms and blanks required
by law for use by candidates, committees, and boards;
(H) Prepare the ballot title or statement to be placed on
the ballot for any proposed law or amendment to the constitution
to be submitted to the voters of the state;
(I) Except as otherwise provided in section 3519.08 of the
Revised Code, certify to the several boards the forms of ballots
and names of candidates for state offices, and the form and
wording of state referendum questions and issues, as they shall
appear on the ballot;
(J) Except as otherwise provided in division (I)(2)(b) of
section 3501.38 of the Revised Code, give final approval to
ballot language for any local question or issue approved and
transmitted by boards of elections under section 3501.11 of the
Revised Code;
(K) Receive all initiative and referendum petitions on
state questions and issues and determine and certify to the
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H. B. No. 470 Page 3
As Introduced
sufficiency of those petitions;
(L) Require such reports from the several boards as are
provided by law, or as the secretary of state considers
necessary;
(M) Compel the observance by election officers in the
several counties of the requirements of the election laws;
(N)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (N)(2) of
this section, investigate the administration of election laws,
frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and
report violations of election laws to the attorney general or
prosecuting attorney, or both, for prosecution;
(2) On and after August 24, 1995, report a failure to
comply with or a violation of a provision in sections 3517.08 to
3517.13, 3517.20 to 3517.22, 3599.03, or 3599.031 of the Revised
Code, whenever the secretary of state has or should have
knowledge of a failure to comply with or a violation of a
provision in one of those sections, by filing a complaint with
the Ohio elections commission under section 3517.153 of the
Revised Code.
(O) Make an annual report to the governor containing the
results of elections, the cost of elections in the various
counties, a tabulation of the votes in the several political
subdivisions, and other information and recommendations relative
to elections the secretary of state considers desirable;
(P) Prescribe and distribute to boards of elections a list
of instructions indicating all legal steps necessary to petition
successfully for local option elections under sections 4301.32
to 4301.41, 4303.29, 4305.14, and 4305.15 of the Revised Code;
(Q) Adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised
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H. B. No. 470 Page 4
As Introduced
Code for the removal by boards of elections of ineligible voters
from the statewide voter registration database and, if
applicable, from the poll list or signature pollbook used in
each precinct, which rules shall provide for all of the
following:
(1) A process for the removal of voters who have changed
residence, which shall be uniform, nondiscriminatory, and in
compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993, including a program that uses
the national change of address ser