Gov. John Kasich has signed two GOP-sponsored bills that shorten early voting in Ohio and change the process for mailing absentee ballot applications statewide, potentially inviting a legal challenge from his likely Democratic opponent this fall. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald, who also serves as the elected Cuyahoga County executive, said he has asked his county law director to review the two bills and is considering taking legal action.

Gov. John Kasich signed two GOP-sponsored bills today that shorten early voting in Ohio and change the process for mailing absentee ballot applications statewide, potentially inviting a legal challenge from his likely Democratic opponent.



Kasich put his name on Senate Bill 238 - which eliminates "Golden Week," when Ohioans could register and vote on the same day - and Senate Bill 205, which requires the approval of the legislature for the secretary of state to mail absentee applications statewide. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald, who also serves as the elected Cuyahoga County executive, said he has asked his county law director to review the two bills and is considering taking legal action.



"We've done that before," FitzGerald said. "We are the only county in Ohio that when they tried to change the election rules at the last minute in 2012, of course there was a lawsuit over that, there was only one county in Ohio that filed an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief.



"We're going to look at doing it again because I think these restrictions are outrageous and unnecessary and totally motivated by a desire to make it tougher to vote."



The House Democratic caucus filed a formal protest today over the passage of the two bills. Under Senate Bill 238, the number of days Ohioans can vote early would shrink from 35 to 29; Republicans say Ohio will still be among the nation's leaders in the number of days people can vote early. The bipartisan Ohio Association of Election Officials has contended that allowing people to register and vote on the same day makes it difficult to properly validate those voters.



Under Senate Bill 205, the secretary of state can still decide whether or not to mail absentee ballot applications statewide, but he needs approval from the legislature for funding. Applications will be mailed for the election this fall.



"This is another example of Ed being full of rhetoric and hot air; he rarely does what he says and just latches onto any issue until something new comes along," Ohio Republican spokesman Chris Schrimpf said, noting FitzGerald's threats to file a lawsuit against or attempt to overturn through the ballot five abortion-related measures Kasich signed as part of the state budget June 30.



FitzGerald said the threats he made last summer were different because challenging those budget provisions was "not going to be an endeavor the campaign was going to do unilaterally" and would have been "an enormous undertaking."



He made his comments in a meeting with reporters as a precursor to Kasich's State of the State speech Monday night in Medina. The Democrat reiterated his criticism of Kasich's income tax cuts, paid for in part with a sales tax increase, as "overwhelmingly" beneficial to the "wealthiest" Ohioans, and of the cuts to education and local governments made in the budget Kasich signed in 2011.



But FitzGerald went a step further, stating that he would not have sought to raise taxes in 2011 – when Republicans filled a multibillion-dollar hole without raising state taxes – and could accomplish his goals if elected without raising taxes. He didn't say what spending cuts he would make, however.



"My default position is always to try to avoid a tax increase," he said. "A candidate for governor has a responsibility to say what your priorities are, and that's what I am saying."



jvardon@dispatch.com



@joevardon