Governor Signs Gavarone, Brenner Bill Protecting Ohio's Elections

COLUMBUS—Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 293, sponsored by State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and State Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware),
which requires all mail in absentee ballots be delivered to the board of elections by close of poll on Election Day and requires the Ohio Secretary of States to verify citizenship of voters.

“With the signing of this law, Ohioans can be confident that the results they see on election night are THE results," said Senator Gavarone. "By requiring ballots to be received and counted on Election Day, and verifying the registration of voters, Ohio will continue to be at the forefront of election security and efficiency."

On March 25th, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Attorney General of the United States to enforce Title 2, Chapter 1, Section 7 and Title 3, Chapter 1, Section 1 of the U.S. Code against states that violate these provisions by including absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes. Senate Bill 293 requires all mail-in ballots to arrive by poll closing, with the exception of uniformed services and overseas absentee ballots. Thirty-four other states, both Republican and Democrat, require ballots to be in and counted on Election Day.

In addition to the absentee ballot requirements, Senate Bill 293 also included other provisions authored by Senator Gavarone to enhance election integrity. Those include strengthening voter roll accuracy by requiring monthly citizenship checks using BMV and SAVE data, as well as monthly reports to counties on deceased voters. It also requires election workers to challenge anyone flagged as a non-citizen, mandates corrections to any mismatched voter registration data, and requires Board of Elections cancel any voter registration found to have been of fictitious person or is a duplicate registration.

Senate Bill 293 will go into effect of March 19th, 2026.

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