Ohio Election Story

[airboss]

Just got off the phone win one of my best buddies who lives in the cesspool that is the Cleveland, Ohio suburbs.

Here's his story, (and sticking to it too)

He is in line to vote in Portage County yesterday. Says he had to wait, maybe 45 minutes, I suppose that is to be expected. He gets a little closer to the front of the line, notices they are checking ID's. Ok, good, my friend thinks, but the lady in front of him shows them a utility bill, which the poll worker accepts, and off to the booth she goes. My friend is a lot like me, not afraid to push the envelope a little. Undaunted, he gets to the front of the line, and produces (get ready for it....) an Ohio Concealed Carry License. The poll worker looks at it a minute, seems a little puzzled, and tells him, "I'm sorry, we can't accept this." Really? He elevates it to her supervisor, and the supervisor says it's unacceptable, since he lives in Portage Co. and the license was issued in Summit Co. My friend said, "So, ok, according to that, since my driver's license was issued in Columbus, I'd have to drive down there to vote?" No answer.

So my friend calls the County Election board, and it's busy. busy. busy. Of course! Then calls the State Election board, waits whatever time on hold, only to be told that the election process is overseen by the Secretary of State. Oh. Ok. Thanks for your help. Nice talking to you. Calls the Sec. of State, waits on hold again, I'm sure it was awhile before they answered only to be told there wasn't anything they could do. By this time, my friend showed his DL but was understandably miffed.

The next call was to a Radio Station in Cleveland that has a talk host by the name of Bob Golic. Golic is a former Cleveland Browns player, and a gun enthusiast. After (again) waiting awhile Golic talked to him, and gave him a few e-mail addresses to write. This morning he did just that- told me that within 22 minutes, he had something along the order of 4-6 e-mail responses apologizing profusely and telling him it wouldn't happen again.

Not sure where it is all going, and in a few days it will all no doubt be swept under the rug. Just shows where some of our public servant's heads are at.

[n5wd]

So, if this is about his being able to vote, and not him being miffed because they wouldn't accept his CHL, why didn't he just show his DL in the first place? Does Ohio have a law, similar to the one in Texas, that explicitly says that a CHL is an approved government-issued ID ?

Oh, and was the address on the CHL his correct one, for the precinct/district/whatever that he was voting in? The reason I ask is that, at least in Texas, if you don't have a voter's certificate, and your DL is showing a different address, you, too, can use a utility bill to prove your residence is at such-and-such address - it's not used to prove WHO you are, but where you're entitled to vote.

[Maxwell]

Can you reference that Texas law, please? I have been repeatedly told that the Texas CHL cannot be used as stand alone ID.

[tiviti]

Can you reference that Texas law, please? I have been repeatedly told that the Texas CHL cannot be used as stand alone ID.

If by stand alone ID you mean that a Texas CHL cannot be used for primary identification such as when applying for a passport then you are correct. It can however be used as a form of secondary or supplementary identification. The current standards for voter ID are much lower than other ID requirements (your water bill serves as acceptable identification).

[apostate]

For Texas, the law was SB 14 but it would have reduced voting fraud so Obama blocked it.

[The Annoyed Man]

Can you reference that Texas law, please? I have been repeatedly told that the Texas CHL cannot be used as stand alone ID.

viewtopic.php?p=557537#p557537

Texas DPS is on record as calling the CHL an acceptable form of ID.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/internetfo ... /DL-17.pdf
Texas requires ID to vote, a CHL is valid for this requirement
http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=16602#tx

Sounds like a CHL is valid ID.

The linked PDF published by TXDPS specifically names "Concealed handgun license (actual card)" as a valid ID at the bottom of page 2. So does the second link. I have used my CHL for ID in a couple of specific circumstances.

[Bob in Big D]

Personally, I don't like showing my CHL to anyone that doesn't have a need to know that I am armed.

[Jumping Frog]

Does Ohio have a law, similar to the one in Texas, that explicitly says that a CHL is an approved government-issued ID ?

The issue is a little complicated. One of the forms of ID that Ohio accepts is:

A current and valid photo identification card issued by the State of Ohio or the United States government;

However, an Ohio CHL is a strange animal. It is actually issued by the County Sheriff who must adhere to the state laws pertaining to "shall issue" requirements. The license itself says "Ohio License to Carry A Concealed Handgun". So it is not technically "issued by the State of Ohio".

However, the Ohio Voter ID law also has a clause:

An original or copy of a current other government document, other than a voter registration acknowledgement notification mailed by the board of elections, that shows the voter’s name and current address.

An Ohio CHL should certainly suffice under this condition.