Ohio ranked-choice voting ban passes House

This past Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives voted to pass Senate Bill 63. The bill, which bans ranked-choice voting statewide, first passed the state Senate last year and is now headed back to the Senate for a final vote before moving to Governor DeWine’s desk.

Senator Theresa Gavarone introduced SB 63 in January 2025, and Stop RCV Coalition co-chairs Trent England and Jason Snead, along with project manager Harry Roth, testified in support of the bill at a hearing later that same year. Unlike other RCV prohibitions, this legislation goes beyond a simple ban: it penalizes localities that utilize ranked-choice voting by withholding their entire annual distribution from the Local Government Fund. This unprecedented penalty ensures compliance in a way that no other RCV prohibition has done before.

We expect the Ohio Senate to quickly pass the bill and Governor DeWine to sign it into law. With the governor of Indiana signing a ban bill earlier this week, we expect the downward trajectory of ranked-choice voting to continue.