07/25/2024

House Bill 437

Lead Sponsors: Representative Beth Lear and Representative Brian Lorenz

Status: 1st hearing in House Government Oversight Committee (April 9, 2024)

Description: The bill shifts Ohio's primary election system from an "open" primary (where voters may pick a partisan ballot without prior registration with a political party) to a "closed" primary (where voters must be registered with a political party in order to vote in a partisan primary).

Requires that voters who are registered with a political party but would like to change their affiliation do so at least 90 days before the partisan primary they seek to vote in. Unaffiliated voters must indicate a party affiliation at least 30 days before a partisan primary in order to cast a vote in it.

CCAO Position: No position (as of July 2024)

Notes: The Legislative Service Commission's Bill Analysis notes that the 90-day requirement in the bill could be challengeable in court due to the Ohio Constitution's specification that an otherwise qualified person who has been registered to vote for 30 days “is entitled to vote at all elections.”