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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio Senate Bill 153 requires citizenship verification before voting and modifies voter registration, roll maintenance, absent voting, and petition procedures
Last action · March 26, 2025: Referred to General GovernmentSponsors: Theresa Gavarone and 1 other
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio Senate Bill 153 requires verification of an elector's United States citizenship before an individual may cast a regular ballot, establishing that unverified voters must cast s. The legislation modifies procedures for voter registration, voter roll maintenance, absent voting, and election petitions across the state. It introduces mandatory citizenship database checks and updates requirements for petition circulators and absentee ballots.
The bill alters how voters across Ohio prove their eligibility, requiring individuals flagged with unverified citizenship status to submit specific documentary proof to election officials within four days following an election for their votes to count. Registered electors statewide face new procedural hurdles regarding verification, address updates, and mail-in voting compliance.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Registered electors in Ohio
Voters face new citizenship verification requirements, mandatory provisional ballot rules if unverified, and revised procedures for voter registration and mail-in voting.
County boards of elections
Election boards must implement new database tracking, process provisional ballots under revised verification timelines, and manage additional notice requirements.
Ohio Secretary of State
The office must establish and maintain expanded database cross-checking procedures, conduct regular citizenship reviews, and prescribe new forms and notices.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my citizenship status is not verified when I go to vote?
What documents can be used as proof of citizenship under the bill?
Does this bill change how absentee ballots are requested and returned?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Mar 26, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to General Government
- Mar 19, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Pre-Vote Citizenship Verification
The bill shifts the verification framework by explicitly conditioning the casting of a regular ballot on prior or verified United States citizenship checks against state and federal databases.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy80Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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