"Many People Could Be Prevented from Voting"

Ohio’s law cuts the early voting period from 35 days to 16, bars poll workers from redirecting lost voters to their correct precinct, and bans county election boards from continuing to send mail ballot applications to all registered voters.

“If we allow this law to stand, it will suppress the vote among groups who traditionally back candidates that support our rights as union members,” said Local 4322’s Anita Andrews. “That’s why I’ve been doing all I can — phone banking, participating in labor walks, and getting signatures — to get it overturned.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich also wants a photo ID measure, already passed by the state House, that would require nearly 900,000 Ohioans to pay for new, state-approved ID cards if they want to vote. Many elderly and poor citizens don’t have drivers’ licenses or other government-issued identification. And college students, including Andrews’ son, could no longer use school IDs for voting.

“In order to vote, my son would have to travel back to Kentucky where he was born to pay for a certified copy of his birth certificate in order to get a state-issued photo ID,” she says.

After collecting a record-breaking 1.3 million signatures for a referendum this November on Ohio’s anti-collective bargaining law, Andrews, other CWAers and coalitions of Ohio activists are circulating petitions to overturn the voter suppression law. If they get 231,000 valid signatures, the law will be put on hold until voters have their say in November 2012.

“CWA and union members all across Ohio need to get active in defeating this law. It’s not too late,” Andrews says. “If we fail to overturn it, many people I know could be prevented from voting in 2012.”