For site map, index
and search features, click HERE
Click HERE to track legislation
and find out how your elected officials voted
OFRW's Legislative Day at Ohio Statehouse
Know what is happening in Congress Tell them what you think!
Congressman
Eric Cantor, (R-Va) has now removed any excuse we have ever had not to
know about legislation in Congress and our ability to comment or send
opinions on it. With one click we can all follow ongoing legislation,
read the bills ourself, and share the information. Knowledge is
empowering; sharing knowledge empowers
others and this new service, via the web, gives us that knowledge to empower us
and inform our opinions. Share the knowledge!
To access the "Citizen Cosponsor Project", click HERE.
Let Congress know what you support and why. It’s your government, make
your voice heard.
Heritage
Foundation has a very good websiteentitled "Why
We Fight -- The Scorecard for Conservatives"
All
too often, lawmakers tend to talk one way back home and vote another
way inside Washington. The hundreds of bills and many more amendments
Congress deals with every year make it tough to see through the spin
and know how Members of Congress really vote.
Our legislative scorecard does just that. And lawmakers are paying
attention. One publication covering Congress described our scorecard as
"the hugely influential cheat sheet for determining conservative bona
fides in Congress." --
See
their "hugely influential" cheat sheet, a legislative scorecard, and
look up your members of Congress here.
From
Political Education/Legislative Chair
Wanda Cusac
The 130th Ohio General Assembly convened recently and have lots of
topics to cover during these sessions. The new legislation will work on
a new two-year budget, a new school funding formula and Ohio Turnpike
plan.
You can find a schedule of when the 130th will be in sesion by clicking
HERE.
I encourage you to write your representatives in Columbus and
Washington D.C. this year.
Our Legislation Day will be on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at the State
House. There will be a tour in the morning and a visit to the
Ohio House of Representatives. There will be a guide with us
the entire day. Lunch will be at Milo's Capital Cafe at the Ohio State
House.
Words of George Washington, "The power under the Constitution will
always be in the people"
The Electoral College is a
process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution
as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress
and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
The Electoral College process
consists of the selection
of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote
for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral
votes by Congress.
The Electoral College consists
of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect
the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the
number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member
in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. Read more
about the
allocation of electoral votes.
Under the 23rd
Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is
allocated 3 electors and treated like a state for purposes of the
Electoral College. For this reason, in the following discussion, the
word “state” also refers to the District of Columbia.
The presidential election is
held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November. You help choose your state’s electors when you vote for
President because when you vote for your candidate you are actually
voting for your candidate’s electors.
Most states have a
“winner-take-all” system that awards all electors to the winning
presidential candidate. However, Maine and Nebraska each have a
variation of “proportional representation.” Read more about the
allocation of Electors among the states and try to predict
the outcome of the Electoral College vote.
After the presidential election,
your governor prepares a “Certificate of Ascertainment” listing all of
the candidates who ran for President in your state along with the names
of their respective electors. The Certificate of Ascertainment also
declares the winning presidential candidate in your state and shows
which electors will represent your state at the meeting of the electors
in December of the election year. Your state’s Certificates of
Ascertainments are sent to the Congress and the National Archives as
part of the official records of the presidential election. See the key
dates for the 2012 election and information about the
roles and responsibilities of state officials, the
Office of the Federal Register and the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA), and the Congress
in the Electoral College process.
The meeting of the electors
takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December
after the presidential election. The electors meet in their respective
states, where they cast their votes for President and Vice President on
separate ballots. Your state’s electors’ votes are recorded on a
“Certificate of Vote,” which is prepared at the meeting by the
electors. Your state’s Certificates of Votes are sent to the Congress
and the National Archives as part of the official records of the
presidential election. See the key
dates for the 2012 election and information about the
roles and responsibilities of state officials and the Congress
in the Electoral College process.
Each state’s electoral votes are
counted in a joint session of Congress on the 6th of January in the
year following the meeting of the electors. Members of the House and
Senate meet in the House chamber to conduct the official tally of
electoral votes. See the key
dates for the 2012 election and information about the role
and responsibilities of Congress
in the Electoral College process.
The Vice President, as President
of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the
vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any,
have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.
The President-Elect takes the
oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on
January 20th in the year following the Presidential election.
* From:
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html
For more information regarding the Electoral process, click HERE, or on any link in the above
article.
Political Education Newsletter by Wanda Cusac Political
Education and Legislative Chair
August
I hope everyone will find some TIME to VOLUNTEER at your local
Republican headquarters. There are many things to do phone banks,
sign up to be poll workers, lettters to the editor in your
local
newspaper, and putting up signs and passing out campaign literature. We
all need to do our part in winning in November.
I am making phone calls at our local headquarters. Please
join me
in working to make Ohio a victory for GOP Presidential candidate Mitt
Romney and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan.
With the Ohio primary over the next eight months will be very important
for our membership to be educated on the issues and
candidates.
Ohio must elect a Republican U.S. Senator this fall.
The 18 electoral votes for Ohio will be important for the Presidential
election to go to the Republican candidate. Ohio will be a major factor
in selecting the new President this fall. The presidential
candidate needs to have 1144 delegates to win the Republican this
summer.
Dates to remember:
August 27
- 30, 2012 Republican National Convention - Tampa
November 6, 2012 - Election Day
Interesting websites:
Ohio Legislature, click HERE
Conservatives, click HERE
The
present administration now in Washington is hostile to liberty, free
enterprise, and capitalism. Therefore, it's very important that we
elect a Republican President this fall.
There are plans being made to host a
legislative day in the spring of 2013.
Quote of George
Washington: "The Power under the Constitution will always be
in the people".
Information on how the Ohio
Delegates are awarded─
Ohio
awards the sixty-six delegates it has been allocated from the RNC
in a proportional manner. Sixty-three of those delegates are
up for
grabs on Super Tuesday. Forty-eight delegates are known as
“District
Delegates” and are awarded winner-take-all by congressional
district.
There are sixteen congressional districts in Ohio and three delegates
are allocated to each district. For example, if Mitt Romney
receives a
plurality of the vote in the 10th Congressional District on Super
Tuesday, he will receive all three of the delegates allocated to that
district. Rick Santorum failed to qualify for delegates in
three Ohio
congressional districts. Therefore, nine of Ohio’s delegates
are off
the table for Senator Santorum.
The remaining fifteen delegates
awarded on Election Day, known at “At Large Delegates,” are allocated
proportionally to each candidate based upon their share of the
statewide vote. In order to qualify for At Large Delegates a
candidate
must receive at least 20% of the statewide vote. If any
presidential
candidate receives more than 50% of the statewide vote, they receive
all fifteen At Large Delegates.
If you've been counting
delegates, you might have noticed that we only explained how 63 of the
66 are awarded. That's because Ohio has three more delegates who get to
back any candidate they choose. They are members of the Republican
National Committee: two RNC committee members (Jo Ann Davidson
&
Bob Bennett), and Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine.
Secretary of State Husted to
Attorney General Holder:
Inconsistent Federal Law
Opens Door to Potential Voter Fraud
Secretary of State
analysis shows that in two Ohio counties,
there are
more registered voters than people of voting age population
COLUMBUS
– Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today sent a letter to United
States Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a meeting to resolve the
inability of states such as Ohio to maintain accurate voter rolls due
to inconsistent sections of federal law.
Federal
Census data reports the number of Ohioans by voting age population. A
comparison with Ohio’s statewide voter database identified that two
Ohio counties, Morrow and Wood, have more registered voters than the
2010 Census data indicate are of eligible voting age. Specifically,
Morrow County reported having 26,018 registered voters while Census
data showed that only 25,834 residents in the county were of eligible
voting age. In Wood County, Census data showed 98,213 residents were of
eligible voting age, yet the county reports having 104,450 registered
voters – a 106 percent registration rate. In other Ohio counties,
registration rates appear unusually high – most at 85 percent or
higher. While Secretary Husted would like to see every Ohioan who wants
to vote be registered, voter rolls should be 100 percent accurate with
only eligible Ohio voters represented.
“As Ohio’s
chief elections official, it is my responsibility to ensure the votes
of every eligible voter are counted and ensure the integrity and
accuracy of the results,” Secretary Husted said. “This is a difficult
task when federal regulations limit Ohio’s ability to remove ineligible
names, thereby increasing the chance for voter fraud.”
Secretary Husted’s office has worked aggressively with all Ohio
counties to bring voter rolls as up-to-date as possible. However,
inconsistent provisions contained within the 1993 National Voter
Registration Act (NVRA) limit what can be done. The NVRA requires
states to conduct maintenance on voter lists to ensure accuracy of the
rolls, but only permits the removal of voters under certain
circumstances (if a person is deceased, is an ineligible felon, or has
either confirmed a change of address or requested to have their
registration canceled). As a result, Ohio’s county boards of elections
must wait years to remove potentially ineligible voters, even in
circumstances where the evidence suggests these individuals have moved
and should not be eligible. Under these provisions, it is possible for
an individual to move to another state without canceling their Ohio
voter registration and register to vote in their new state of residence.
“The longer ineligible voters are permitted to remain on the rolls the
greater the chance Ohio has of seeing an increase in voter fraud, which
is something I refuse to accept heading into a presidential election,”
Secretary Husted stated.
Secretary Husted is
hopeful that a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Holder will allow the
two to discuss a solution allowing Ohio to better maintain is voter
rolls.
“I look forward to working with Attorney
General Holder to support the values and principles espoused by the
NVRA,” Secretary Husted said. “However, at some point, there must be a
common sense approach to maintaining voter rolls that does not provide
an easy pathway for voter fraud.”
A copy of the
letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Holder, as well as a link to a
Census data and registered voters comparison document has been included
below.
Additional Information:
Census Data & Registered Voters Comparison Spreadsheet (Excel) (PDF)
*****
February 10,2012
The Honorable Eric Holder
United States Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Holder:
Since becoming Ohio's Secretary of State in January of 2011, I have
worked hard to expand voter registration opportunities for Ohio
citizens, while remaining vigilant against a potential corresponding
increase in voter fraud.
This balance between
expanded voter access and voter roll accuracy is exactly what the U.S.
Congress had in mind when it passed the National Voter Registration Act
(NVRA) in 1993. Section 7 of the NVRA rightly seeks to expand the roll
of registered voters in each state. Section 8 of the NVRA contains the
NVRA's list maintenance provisions, and works in concert with Section
7, by allowing states to remove the names of ineligible voters from
state voter rolls.
I am committed to ensuring
that the worthy aims of both Section 7 and Section 8 are achieved in
Ohio, especially as we approach the presidential election this year.
This is critical for earning and maintaining the confidence of Ohio's
citizens in our electoral process.
Despite my
dedication to cleanse our voter rolls of out-of-date records and
ineligible voters, I find my efforts hampered by inconsistent
provisions of the NVRA.
Based on data provided by the federal
government, (U.S. Census Bureau; website: http://censtats.census.gov/usa/usa.shtml),
my office compared, county by county, the "Resident population 18 years
and over (April 1-complete count) 2010" with our statewide voter
registration totals of registered voters for each county. Our analysis
identified that two Ohio counties have more registered voters than the
2010 Census data indicate are of eligible voting age.
This means there are ineligible voters on our rolls. Common sense says
that the odds of voter fraud increase the longer these ineligible
voters are allowed to populate our rolls. I simply cannot accept that.
I am compelled, if not required, to scrub the voter rolls of ineligible
names in the affected counties. Indeed, I have endeavored to remove
every ineligible voter that I can (both in the affected counties, and
statewide) pursuant to the restrictions of Section 8 of the NVRA.
Unfortunately, however, Section 8 of the NVRA prohibits me from
removing any name from a voter roll unless the removal results from a
notification that the individual is an ineligible felon or is deceased,
or if the voter has confirmed a change of residence and/or requested a
registration cancellation. These restrictions mean that county boards
of elections have to wait years to remove potentially ineligible voters
from the rolls even in circumstances where the evidence suggests that
these individuals should not be eligible. The very federal law enacted,
in part, to promote integrity of the voter rolls is preventing me from
fulfilling my duty to Ohioans under Section 8 to make a "reasonable
effort" to remove ineligible voters from our voter rolls.
I want to ensure that every eligible voter in Ohio is able to vote and
that his or her vote counts. Ineligible voters on our rolls, however,
threaten to dilute the value of each valid vote. I have done as much as
I can to ensure the integrity of the voter rolls in Ohio, but I need
help.
Accordingly, faced with seemingly
inconsistent statutory requirements, and knowing that it is your
responsibility to ensure that each state obeys the requirements of
Section 8 of the NVRA, I am hereby requesting a personal meeting to
discuss a solution that would permit me to remove ineligible voters,
thereby maintaining the integrity of Ohio's voter registration rolls
and reducing the opportunity for voter fraud in Ohio.
I look forward to your response and a
productive discussion.
Sincerely,
Jon Husted
Ohio Secretary of State
cc: The Honorable John Boehner,
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Sherrod Brown
The Honorable Rob Portman
The Honorable Steve Austria
The Honorable Steve Chabot
The Honorable Marcia L. Fudge
The Honorable Bob Gibbs
The Honorable Bill Johnson
The Honorable Jim Jordan
The Honorable Marcy Kaptur
The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich
The Honorable Steven C. LaTourette
The Honorable Robert E. Latta
The Honorable Jim Renacci
The Honorable Timothy Ryan
The Honorable Jean Schmidt
The Honorable Betty Sutton
The Honorable Steve Stivers
The Honorable Patrick Tiberi
This
month we celebrate two Presidents'
birthdays. George Washington, Father of our Country and the 16th
President Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln, the
first Republican President, is responsible for the elimination of
slavery and the preservation of the Union.
In
1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the
election, but gained a national reputation that won him the Republican
nomination for President in 1860.
On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln
gave the Gettysburg address.
Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumped
to end the war.
On the one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. are the
words from his Second Inaugural Address. "With malice toward
none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to
bind up the nation's wounds."
If
you have comments regarding, or requests for, specific
political education topics, please contact
OFRW's Political Education Chair Wanda Cusac
by clicking HERE
For more legislative
information
visit the NFRW website by clicking HERE
To access the Political
Education Newsletters
from previous years, Click HERE
