Voting in Ohio: Federal Laws

Provides for the election of Congress members

Provides for the election of the President

Presidential and Vice-Presidential electors

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Updates how Senators are chosen

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Voting for federal offices in District of Columbia

No poll taxes are allowed.

Right to vote at 18.

US Supreme Court decided South Carolina's legislative district maps are not unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

Alabama's plan to eliminate the only black dominated voting district violated the Voting Rights Act.

8th Cir. Court of Appeals said that the Voting Rights Act is not privately enforceable.

Federal District Court rejects Alabama's one minority, majority district, after US Supreme Court ordered two districts

Democracy Docket 6/8/23

The Hill 9/26/23

Caster v. Allen

Cert is dismissed, so that 5th Cir Ct of Appeals decisions can go forward in order to possibly have a second majority-minority district in Lousiana.

The case can now go forward.

In 2026 the US Supreme Court will decide whether Louisiana's majority minority district is constitutional.

The US Supreme Court held that the Elections Clause does not vest exclusive and independent authority in state legislatures to set the rules regarding federal elections, because state supreme courts retain judicial review, just like in any other case.

Cleveland.com, 9/7/23

The US Supreme Court will decide in 2026 whether the limits on coordinated party expenditures in 52 U.S.C. § 30116 violate the First Amendment, either on their face or as applied to party spending in connection with "party coordinated communications" as defined in 11 C.F.R. " 109.37.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES

Conspiracy against rights, including the right to vote

Motor Voter Act, requires BMVs to offer an opportunity to register to vote when you are registering or renewing your license or car registration.

3/25/25

Votebeat 6/13/25

Votebeat 6/30/25. Election officials worry about the cost of new rules — and the impact on public faith.

Federal Elections

W. Bradley Wendel, 46 Cardozo L. Rev. 2143 (2025)

Rob Howse, 46 Cardozo L. Rev. (2025)

Josh Blackman & Seth Barrett Tillman, 15(1) N.Y.U. J.L. & LIBERTY 1 (2021)

William Baude & Michael Stokes Paulsen, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 172, (2024)

Department of Justice

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) specifies that four commissioners are nominated by the President on recommendations from the majority and minority leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

US Dept of Justice 11/26/24

SAVE is an online service from USCIS for registered federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify immigration status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.

News Release DHS 5/22/25

Ohio Capital Journal 9/26/24

Ohio Capital Journal 4/17/23