(The Center Square) – Ohio voters may have to declare a party affiliation in the year before a political primary and only be allowed to vote in that primary based on legislation proposed by a GOP lawmaker.
Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, wants to stop traditional crossover voting in the state and has support from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a U.S. Senate candidate.
LaRose faces a three-candidate GOP primary next spring against Bernie Moreno, who is the largest volume luxury car dealer in the Midwest, and state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians.
The winner will face incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown in the November 2024 general election.
Robinson’s bill would close the state’s primary election to only registered voters from specific parties and allow people to update party affiliation at any time up to 30 days before a primary. Currently, a voter’s party affiliation is determined by the last primary ballot they used.
“The idea for this bill came from discussions with my constituents, who are concerned about their inability to update their voter registrations to reflect their values until a primary election in even-numbered years,” Reynolds said. “Senate Bill 147 modernizes voter registrations in Ohio. This voter-friendly bill not only empowers voters to become more civically engaged, it also increases data accuracy and integrity of the voter registration process in real-time.”
LaRose, who was with Reynolds at a Tuesday press conference, said, “These are ideas that have been talked about for a long time. It’s time that we really modernize the way we do party registration and party primaries in Ohio. It will ensure that a party’s nomination is chosen by members of that party,” LaRose said.
Ohio is a partially closed primary state, which means anyone can show up and decide which primary they want to vote.
Ohio has 7.9 million registered, less than 3 million affiliated with a party. There are 1.38 million registered Republicans and 1.33 million registered Democrats. The rest are unaffiliated.
Reynolds said her constituents believe crossover voters twist contests to focus on political outcomes.
“A closed primary promotes and protects election integrity. There are concerns the current system lends itself to political gamesmanship,” Reynolds said.
Delaware, New Mexico, Florida, New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Nevada are the only closed primary states in the country.
