In an article today, The Columbus Dispatch reports on the Ohio House passing a bill that would change "virtually all aspects of the voting process."
The bill addresses numerous concerns from the past elections, among them modernizing the voter registration system to include an automatic update of records when voters change their name or address, expanding the number of early voting sites, easing voter ID requirements, and streamlining provisional balloting process.
According to the article, the proponents of the bill argue that it "continues efforts to improve elections since the problems Ohio experienced in the 2004 presidential election."
Having passed through the Democrat-controlled House, the bill is now in the Republican-controlled Senate, which has been considering its own election reform proposals. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she is hopeful that both chambers can "find some common ground and move at least some of these reforms forward," so that the changes can be incorporated in time for the 2010 primary.
