A former Republican lawmaker is pushing for Ohio to strengthen the state’s current laws to secure the primary election system and stop party raiding.
According to former Ohio Congressman Jim Renacci, the current Ohio election law, which allows challenges to party raiders in primary elections, is not being enforced.
Currently, Ohio voters do not need to specify a party when registering. By requesting the ballot of the party primary they want at the time of voting, they can cast a ballot in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. Additionally, voters can switch between parties during various elections throughout the year.
Renacci told The Ohio Star that currently in order to participate in party raiding all a voter has to do is sign an affidavit saying that they believe in the principles of the Democratic or Republican party.
According to Section 3513.19 of the Ohio Revised Code, you can “Challenge the person is not affiliated or is not a member of the political party whose ballot the person desires to vote. Party affiliation shall be determined by examining the elector’s voting record for the current year and the preceding two calendar years using that as a standard of affiliation.”
Renacci told The Star “Prior to 2010 we were challenging Republicans and Democrats at the polls.”
Lt. Governor Jon Husted, the then-secretary of state, diverted from the law in 2011 by releasing a directive that forbade precinct election officials from contesting candidates’ party affiliations, a widespread practice before his direction and that the law allowed. Husted said that the boards of elections should allow voters to switch party affiliations because he wanted Democrats to become Republicans.
According to Renacci, Husted was dead wrong and because of Husted’s directive, no election boards have elected to follow the law.
“Since that directive was enacted, we have lost approximately 920,000 registered Republicans in Ohio,” Renacci told The Star.
According to Renacci, it’s time to enforce and clarify the existing law in Ohio.
“It’s time to fix and clarify the existing law in Ohio. It’s time to either challenge the elector or change the law. We need party affiliation to be a conscious decision not a political decision,” Renacci told The Star.
There isn’t currently any legislation in place to secure Ohio’s primary. However, Renacci told The Star that he is looking closely at legislation securing primary elections from Kentucky. His “goal is to do whatever I can to get it in place before 2024.”
“Let’s do what other states do like Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Registration for party affiliation or a change in party affiliation should be done in advance of primaries,” Renacci told The Star.
Renacci told The Star that he has been talking to Ohio legislators about securing the primary, and he noted that so far, all of the Republicans he has spoken to have been open to the concept. He asserted that Ohio must put an end to “party raiding” in order to guarantee that party loyalists elect the candidates they like. To cast a ballot in the spring primaries, voters must identify their party by December 31st.
“It is great to now say we are working together with so many state lawmakers and current Secretary of State, Frank LaRose to get some very important and meaningful legislation done. It will further secure our elections and end the tens of thousands of votes raided in Ohio every primary election cycle. Why? Because it’s the law,” Renacci told The Star.
The Ohio Star contacted LaRose for comment but did not receive one before press time.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Jim Renacci” and Background Photo “Jim Renacci Speaking” by Jim Renacci.
