Ohio photo ID bill, HB 159 will not be considered this session, according to Darrel Rowland and Ben Geier at the Columbus Dispatch.
House Republicans have fought to pass a photo ID rule, facing opposition from state Democrats, Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, as well as the Republican Senate. Earlier this month, omnibus election bill, HB 194, passed without the heavily debated photo ID provision that Husted called “draconian.”
“(This will) be it for the voter ID until a new batch of tea party freshmen join the Republican caucus and go about the business of disenfranchisement,” said Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern.
Although HB 194 passed without a photo ID rule, it has other restrictions on voting access that are being challenged.
“The bill limits the number of early voting days and doesn’t allow counties to pay postage for voters casting absentee ballots by mail,” the Dispatch reports. “Former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and others are organizing a referendum on that measure, which could delay its implementation until after the 2012 general election.”