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Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed a controversial bill that Democrats and other critics said would have imposed a poll tax on voters seeking additional voting hours in county courts.

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer/file photo)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich on Friday vetoed a bill that critics said would have imposed a poll tax on voters seeking to keep polling places open due to emergencies.

The bill would have required voters seeking an extension for voting hours in county courts to post bond equal to the estimated cost of keeping polling places open, which could total tens of thousands of dollars. If the court decided against keeping the polls open, the voter would lose the bond.

GOP lawmakers said the requirement and others in the bill were needed after cases in which Southwest Ohio judges kept the polls open, in their opinion, unnecessarily.

Kasich, in his veto message, agreed there is a need to create a uniform process for county common pleas judges considering such requests. But he said the provision that eliminated a judge's discretion to waive the bond went too far.

"I look forward to working with the General Assembly in the future to see this process become law," Kasich said.

Kasich rarely wields his veto pen as fellow Republicans control both the Ohio House and Senate. The bill was only the second vetoed by Kasich since he took office in 2011. That year, he vetoed Republican lawmakers' first attempt to regulate water withdrawal from Lake Erie under the Great Lakes Compact.

Secretary of State Jon Husted supported legislation to set rules for common pleas courts reviewing requests to extend voting hours but said before the bill passed that he didn't support the bond requirement.

In a statement Friday, Husted said he respected Kasich's veto decision and will work with him and the legislature to address last minute changes to voting rules by state judges.

"In both of the past two major election cycles, Ohioans have had to deal with last minute changes to the state's election laws after judges have modified the rules, citing only politics, tweets and traffic jams as justification," Husted said. "These decisions came with little to no time for election officials to react, which adds the threat of chaos to otherwise well-run and smooth elections."

Why was the bill passed?

GOP lawmakers supporting the bill focused on two recent cases where polls were kept open:

In November 2015, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge kept the polls open an additional 90 minutes after Issue 3 backers complained voting problems experienced earlier in the day kept voters from casting ballots. The judge's order was issued about 30 minutes before the polls closed statewide. The decision delayed reporting of statewide election results.

In the March primary election a Cincinnati federal court judge ordered Hamilton County polling places to remain open for an additional hour because a car crash had closed the Combs-Hehl Bridge for several hours during the day. Husted's office wasn't notified of the order until after 7:30 p.m., when the polls closed. Husted said last month there was no official complaint filed.

Senate Bill 296 set conditions that must be met to extend voting hours,such as requiring evidence to support the claim beyond media reports. It would not have affected the March order, only decisions made by state-appointed judges.

Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who sponsored the bill, said Friday that Kasich's reasoning behind the veto was incorrect. Seitz said judges already ignore a rule requiring judges to set a bond amount, and his bill would explicitly allow them to waive bond for people who could not afford it.

"In vetoing Senate Bill 296, the governor has subordinated the interests of Ohio taxpayers and poll workers to the interests of those who want to game Election Day voting hours for political purposes," Seitz said in a news release.

What did critics say?

Democrats and voting rights advocates said the bond amounted to a poll tax that voters -- especially minority, poor and elderly voters -- would not be able to afford.

Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Kent Democrat, said Kasich made the right call vetoing the bill, which she said was an attack on voters and their access to the voting booth and the courts.

"Emergencies happen and our officials need the ability to respond to ensure access to the polls," Clyde said in a statement.

Sen. Mike Skindell, a Lakewood Democrat, said Kasich's veto leaves the door open to future legislation targeting court access.

"We are grateful for today's veto, but we need to remain vigilant to ensure that other troubling portions of this bill do not resurface in future legislation," Skindell said in a statement.