Majority Republicans in the Ohio House were ready to vote on a bill that would have repealed the controversial election law. But at the last minute, House leaders pulled the repeal legislation from consideration.

The reason?

Republican House Speaker Bill Batchelder of Medina wants to take a closer look at an offer backed by the group that put the referendum on the fall ballot. Democratic State Representative Kathleen Clyde of Kent says the proposal involves a second bill, into which GOP lawmakers duplicated one of their most controversial election changes.

The three days that matter 
“The deal was that the Republicans would make this a clean repeal and would strip the language in S.B. 295 that eliminates the three busiest days of early voting.  In exchange for that, the petition committee would agree to pull H.B. 194 off that ballot.”

Those three busiest days are the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before an election.

What Republican lawmakers had been contemplating was a repeal of some of the other voting changes, but not the repeal of the ban on in-person early voting during those days.  Dennis Willard is with the group “We are Ohio,” which is pushing the referendum. He says the three-day window matters.

“There’s a need.  There’s a demand for early voting on that last weekend.  In 2008, an estimated 93,000 Ohioans voted during this three-day period.”

Willard’s group, along with unions, has been circulating an online petition, asking lawmakers to restore that voting window.  In the first 36 hours of circulation, he says more than 10,000 signatures were collected. 

Republicans say they aren't trying to suppress Democratic voters 
Democrats accuse Republicans who passed the controversial bill in the first place of voter suppression.  And that’s the type of talk Speaker Batchelder’s spokesman, Mike Dittoe, says needs to end.

“We do need to tone down the rhetoric a little bit.  Certainly, this is not a voter-suppression bill,” Dittoe said. “We heard a lot from the minority caucus recently about the 300,000-plus people who signed (petitions) … to get this on the ballot.  Well, there are still about 11.2 million people around the state of Ohio who did not sign the (petitions).”

GOP: Local boards like the ban
Dittoe says Batchelder wants to consider the proposed deal and talk to the people who would be affected by it.

“There are a lot of interested parties in this issue. There’s not only the House but the Senate.  We have to see where the governor would land on this issue.

“… We also have to take into account the view of boards of elections throughout the state who actually weighed in on H.B.194 when it was going through the Legislature.  And it’s my understanding one of the provisions that they liked quite a bit … was the fact that there was not voting the weekend before the election.” 

Dittoe says the county boards want those three days to prepare for the actual Election Day. 

Gov. John Kasich is weighing in on the issue, but only to say he doesn’t want to weigh in right now. "I think it’s possible for us to come up with a good election-reform package.  But let’s … let them sit down one more time and listen to what people have to say.”

As for Democratic Rep. Clyde, she’s encouraged that Speaker Batchelder is willing to take a look at the deal.“That’s a great sign that he is interested in working with us, but it’s pretty simple what the demands are.  And I’m hopeful that we can all reach an agreement.”

The vote on the GOP plan to repeal the election law has now been scheduled for May 8th.