Reynolds Testifies on The Voter Registration Modernization Act

COLUMBUS—State Senator Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester) gave sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 147, which will allow voters to easily update their party affiliation on the voter registration form.

"I was inspired to introduce this legislation by my constituents, who are concerned about their inability to update their voter registration until a primary election every even-numbered year," said Reynolds. "Ohioans deserve to join a political party or update their party affiliation to reflect their values in real-time. Senate Bill 147 brings our current antiquated process into the 21st century, empowering our voters to be more civically engaged."

Senate Bill 147 allows voters to update their party affiliation at any time up to 30 days before a primary election. Currently a voter's party affiliation is solely determined by the last primary ballot they used.

The legislation also strengthens data integrity by offering real-time, accurate voter data to the Ohio Secretary of State's Office, "further modernizing our elections and putting voters at the forefront of our mission," according to Reynolds. 

Senate Bill 147 moves Ohio's primary elections to a closed system, which means a voter must be registered with a political party to vote using that party's ballot. The bill only applies to the primary election process and has no effect on issue voting within the same election. 

"The bill instills confidence in our results by eliminating day of 'tactical voting' in primaries intended to select an opposing party’s candidate they feel their party has the best chance of defeating in a general election," the Senator said.