A law requiring Ohio voters to provide identification at the polls passed months ago, but student political groups are now dealing with its effects on their voter education and registration efforts.
OU College Republicans plan to tell people about the identification requirement when they register, but voters can ultimately learn about it on their own when they fill out the registration forms, said Jordan Carr, the group's president.
It tells you that you have to show ID when you go to vote
he explained. Anybody that's signing their name to the form should read the form and should know the requirement.
Many conservatives supported the new law, approved in late January, as a step to prevent voter fraud. But Democrats have contended that the law will make the voting process harder for those who might not have driver's licenses, such as students, the poor or senior citizens.
In cases where voters can't provide acceptable identification, they can cast provisional ballots using the last four digits of their Social Security number.
To ensure that those without driver's licenses can vote, utility bills or bank statements are also acceptable for identification. Voters using absentee ballots will write their identification information on the application.
I think because of the way the statute's written it's going to have some impact said Susan Gwinn, chairwoman of the Athens County Board of Elections. The question is of how much. I think it is definitely going to have a chilling effect on voter turnout.
In the 2002 gubernatorial election, Athens County had a voter turnout of 42.73 percent, or 17,012 of its 39,813 registered voters, according to the Ohio Secretary of State.
To mitigate potential problems with the new ID provision, OU College Democrats are making an extra effort to educate people through their registration, said group President Robert Dorans.
We have to be more careful about letting people know
when they go to the polls
what they have to bring with them
he explained.
The voter registration deadline is October 10
and before (the new law)
we would just focus on October 10
get as many registrations as possible and then we'd shift into kind of a campaign effort for our candidates
he added. Now
we have to combine the campaign aspect with this education aspect.
