Proponent urges citizenship verification, monthly roll matches and ban on unattended ballot drop boxes in Senate Bill 153

Harrison Siders, testifying for FGA Action, urged the Senate General Government Committee to advance Senate Bill 153, which the witness described as a package of measures to verify citizenship for voter registration, tighten absentee ballot procedures and increase transparency for petition circulators.

Siders said SB153 would require election officials to verify U.S. citizenship at registration or when a voter updates registration by using Bureau of Motor Vehicles records or documentary proof of citizenship. He said the bill would also mandate regular monthly comparisons of the statewide voter registration database against both BMV and Social Security records to keep rolls current. On absentee ballots, Siders said the bill would prohibit unattended drop boxes, require ballots to be returned directly to election officials or staffed drop-off locations, and restrict who may deliver another person's ballot. The bill would also require paid petition circulators to disclose their status and affiliations, he said.

During questioning, Senator DeMora asked how many votes in Ohio had been compromised via ballot drop boxes since their inception; Siders replied that he knew of zero instances in Ohio but cited incidents in other states, including attacks on boxes, and argued Ohio should learn from those events. Senator Gavron asked whether it would be possible to distinguish ballots after a large, illicit drop-off; Siders said under the current system that would be difficult because ballots go into a single bin and are collected together. The committee took no vote; this was the bill's second hearing and only proponent testimony was presented at the session.