CINCINNATI — Political Science Professor David Niven at the University of Cincinnati told WCPO 9 News last month the changes made by House Bill 48 bring new meaning to the word restriction.
“Now it will be one of the strictest photo ID requirements in the nation, “ he said.
Under the new voter ID law- You won’t be able to use a utility bill---bank statements or government paychecks to verify who you are and where you live.
“This is a clear voter suppression effort I do think college students will be disproportionately affected by this,” said Nicole Klungle of the Greater Cincinnati Voter Collaborative.
She said the new law is targeting specific groups.
“Woman have the potential to be disproportionately affected by this because woman tend to change their names when they get married, “said Klungle, with Ohio’s deadline to register looming.
Statistics show across the state the impact will be big.
It's estimated approximately 800 thousand Ohio voters don't have a photo ID.
The state is offering free ID's for those who need them but for many obtaining the necessary documents to get a State ID isn’t easy.
Back in February--- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose argued he isn't trying to remove any legitimate voter...But it's about election integrity.
"Over 10,000 voters have said no I still want to be a registered voter in Ohio and so they've taken action, they've gone on our website or filled out the form and sent it in,“ said LaRose.
Niven though pointed out another unintended consequence for military and overseas voters.
Since the new law shortens the window, you can ask for and return an absentee ballot--- from ten days after election day--- down to four days.
"And so what this bill does, it will dramatically increase the number of ballots that were cast on time, mailed on time, but now will not be counted…there's no constituency out there saying, let's make it harder for the military to vote,” he said.
Klungle says if you haven’t voted in a couple of elections or are unsure if you are registered you should go to the Board of Election website to check your status. She says if you have other questions you can also log on to voteriders.org.
To vote in the May 4 elections you must be registered by Monday, April 3rd. We reached out to officials at the Hamilton County Board of Elections for comment, but they did not get back to us.
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