Ohio Voters To Decide on Constitutional Amendment Requiring Voter ID

Ohio voters will weigh in on whether to amend the state’s constitution to require voter ID.On Wednesday, the Ohio House voted 61-27 to advance Senate Joint Resolution 10, putting the voter ID measure on the ballot in November. The state Senate advanced the measure earlier this week. Voters in the Buckeye State are already required to show ID to vote, after the legislature passed a bill implementing that requirement in 2022. But some Republicans in the state have argued that it is not enough. In May, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Vivek Ramaswamy, wrote in an op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer that the law is “fragile” and “subject to the whims of state lawmakers, judges and the political winds that blow them in.” He argued that the voter ID requirement should be enshrined in the state’s constitution to ensure it is not repealed. The ballot initiative would require voters to show a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, state ID card, passport, or U.S. military ID card. A state representative who supported the measure, Adam Bird, told the Ohio Capital Journal, “It is a straightforward question on the ballot to the voters — should Ohio’s elections be secured by government-issued photo ID requirements? These requirements ensure that we know that the person at the poll is who they say they are.”Democrats have opposed the measure, noting that the state already requires voter ID. “Our current form of photo identification and the laws that govern it are working as they were intended, yet many of my colleagues across the aisle have decided today that the urgent issue of the moment …. is to turn this existing law that is already working into a change in our constitution,” A Democratic state representative, Allison Russo, said. Other Democrats claimed Republicans moved to put the initiative on the ballot to boost Republican turnout in November. President Trump celebrated the Ohio Senate’s decision to advance the initiative and claimed Democrats opposed it because they want to “cheat” in elections. The president is urging Congress to pass his SAVE America Act, which would implement a national voter ID requirement, among other changes to federal election law, as he insists, without evidence, that widespread fraud marred the 2020 election. Americans appear to be supportive of the idea of requiring voters to show a photo ID. A Pew Research Center poll released in August 2025 found that 83 percent of Americans say they “strongly” or “somewhat” favor the idea of requiring voters to show a government-issued ID to cast their ballot.California and Nevada, two of 14 states without a voter ID requirement, will also have voter ID initiatives on the ballot in November.

Ohio Voters To Decide on Constitutional Amendment Requiring Voter ID

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