DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement on Ohio House Bill 680, which would roll back in-person early voting and eliminate unsolicited absentee ballot application mailing for the first time since 2008:

“Ohio Republicans are at it again. This bill is craven partisanship at its most despicable and dangerous. Republicans know they can’t win on their disastrous agenda, so they’re trying to silence as many voters as possible to game the system in their favor. If passed, this bill would be the first time in over a decade that registered Ohio voters didn’t automatically receive an absentee ballot application. It would reduce the amount of time military members have to cast their ballot by mail or through early voting; it limits the number of early voting locations and removes local health departments’ abilities to set standards for health and safety, such as social distancing; and it puts millions of Ohioans in danger by forcing them to choose between their health and their vote, This is the Republican playbook: To drag us backwards year after year, to roll back as much progress and suppress as many voices in order to maintain their stranglehold on power. That’s not democracy, it’s disgraceful – and Democrats won’t let it stand. We believe our democracy works best when more people can participate, not fewer. And we will keep fighting tooth and nail to defend and expand the right that protects all others – the right to vote.”