Ohio Governor Signs Law Ending Four-Day Absentee Ballot Grace Period, Citing Supreme Court Uncertainty

Columbus, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday "reluctantly" signed a bill that eliminates Ohio's four-day grace period for absentee ballots, saying the change was needed amid uncertainty about a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision that could affect how late-arriving mail ballots are counted.

DeWine, a term-limited Republican, said he would normally have vetoed the repeal but felt compelled to act because the high court is expected to rule next summer on a Mississippi case that could create conflicting rules for state and federal elections.

Why DeWine Signed

DeWine warned lawmakers that if the Supreme Court upholds a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision — which found that Mississippi's law allowing ballots arriving shortly after Election Day violated federal law — Ohio could face a scenario where state and federal contests follow different counting rules. He said such a split would leave Ohio officials too little time to reconcile rules before November and risk confusing voters.

“I believe that this four-day grace period is reasonable, and I think for many reasons it makes a lot of sense,” DeWine told reporters. “Therefore, I normally would veto a repeal of this four-day grace period. And, frankly, that's what I wish I could do.”

What the Law Does

With DeWine's signature, Ohio joins a growing number of states that no longer accept mailed ballots received after Election Day unless special exceptions apply. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, just 14 states will now accept ballots that arrive after Election Day if they were postmarked on or before that date. Many states, including Ohio, retain exceptions for overseas voters and U.S. service members and their families.

The new measure, part of SB 293, also tightens some voter-registration procedures and increases reliance on provisional ballots in certain circumstances, critics say.

Reactions

Democrats and voting-rights groups urged DeWine to veto the repeal, warning the change could disenfranchise voters who experience mail delays and could lead to cancelled registrations for people who have changed names or recently naturalized.

"The bill puts thousands of voters at risk of having their ballots not counted simply because of mail issues, and it could cancel registrations for many, including women who might have changed their last names or newly naturalized citizens," Democratic state Rep. Christine Cockley said.

Conservative election reform groups praised the move. The Election Transparency Initiative said passage of SB 293 aligns Ohio with the majority of states that treat Election Day as the decisive date for ballot receipt. "By passing SB 293, Ohio lawmakers stood with the majority of states nationwide in affirming that Election Day should be treated as Election Day — a commonsense standard that strengthens trust in our elections," said Ken Cuccinelli, the group's national chairman.

Context

Ohio has repeatedly undergone election-law changes in recent years. Supporters of tightening deadlines cite election integrity and uniform standards; opponents say stricter rules risk disenfranchising voters and disproportionately affect populations who rely on mail services.

As of the bill's signing, the policy shift reduces the number of states that accept late-arriving but timely-postmarked ballots to 14, a trend that will shape how mail-in voting is handled nationwide heading into upcoming federal and state elections.