Ohio Bans Grace Periods for Mail Ballots, Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes

Ohio election official Bethe Goldenfield first learned of Senate Bill 293 in mid-October, when she was busy managing the fall local elections happening in her county Sponsored by Republicans, in a statehouse with GOP supermajorities in both chambers, the bill sought to repeal Ohio’s practice of counting mail ballots that are postmarked prior to Election Day but that arrive up to four days after polls close.

This is a priority for Donald Trump, who is hostile to all manners of mail voting and wants to ban so-called grace periods for mail ballots everywhere. Ohio’s bill followed his lead, threatening thousands of votes in the process.