MICHAEL D.

DOVILLA
18 TH DISTRICT ______

VERN R IFFE CENTER

77 S OUTH HIGH S TREET, 12 TH F LOOR COLUMBUS, OH 43215-6111
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ECONOMIC & SMALL B USINESS DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION, V ICE-CHAIRMAN STATE GOVERNMENT & E LECTIONS W AYS & MEANS P OLICY, CHAIRMAN

T: (614) 466-4895
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F: (614) 719-6957

Ohio General Assembly

House of Representatives Columbus
Remarks of State Representative Mike Dovilla Military Absentee Voting New Conference Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Cleveland, Ohio Wednesday, October 10, 2012

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DISTRICT18@OHR .STATE.OH.US

Good morning. I am State Representative Mike Dovilla, representing the 18th Ohio House District, which includes several southwest suburbs of Cleveland. I wish to thank Concerned Veterans for America and Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Jane Duff for bringing us here today to highlight the serious challenges Ohios active duty military are facing to cast their ballots in this years presidential election. During my deployment to Iraq as a U.S. Navy Reservist in 2007, I fell victim to the process for military and overseas voting when, through no fault of my own and despite a proactive effort to obtain a ballot I was disenfranchised in that years municipal elections. Since that time, I have vowed that if I were ever in a position to be able to address this public policy challenge and prevent it from happening to others serving in uniform overseas, I would do so. In June of 2011, Governor John Kasich signed into law House Bill 224, my legislation which implemented changes to Ohios Uniform Military and Overseas Voting law to address many of the logistical challenges of providing our active duty military their absentee ballot in a timely manner. Our unanimously passed legislation was sponsored jointly by Rep. Michael Stinziano, a Democratic colleague from Columbus, who is a former director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. Our bill: permits a uniformed services or overseas voter to apply for an absentee ballot by e-mail or through Internet delivery; requires boards of elections to accept and process federal write-in absentee ballots for all elections for federal, state or local office and for all ballot questions and issues; establishes an emergency process for uniformed services and overseas voters to cast a ballot if an international, national, state or local emergency arises that makes substantial compliance with the federal absent voting law impossible or impracticable; and permits a uniformed services or overseas voter to use the declaration accompanying a federal write-in absentee ballot to apply to register to vote simultaneously with the submission of the federal write-in absentee ballot

More than merely one-time legislation, I have worked in concert for more than a year with Secretary of State Jon Husted on the launch of his offices Ohio Military-Ready-to-Vote program. This important initiative provides voting materials, information, and assistance to ensure our service members have everything they need to participate in our elections while they are deployed in service to our country. Since the programs launch we have earned the distinction of being designated an All Star State in terms of military voting preparedness. In fact, Ohios military members in 15 countries and 35 states have made use of this program and military members from 22 other states have also used our program. Despite all of the good work we have been doing in Ohio, when it comes to military voting preparedness, our state cannot act alone. Alarmingly, the Defense Department Inspector General recently released a report on military voting preparedness. In an attempt to contact all 229 voting assistance offices, a dismal fifty percent were actually located. I am committed to continuing my efforts to advocate for our military service members and veterans for as long as I have the honor of serving in public office. While these brave individuals are protecting our country and our families around the globe, we have a duty to protect their ability to vote. Their willingness to defend our freedoms including at the ballot box only underscores the importance of our effort to allow their voices to be heard in each and every election. To further elaborate on this important public policy issue, I am pleased to introduce retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Jane Duff with Concerned Veterans for America. ###