National scorecard shows some Ohio Congress members ‘perfect’ in support of ‘pro-democracy’ reforms

The U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org

A new nonpartisan report card on democracy showed “near perfect” scores for some of Ohio’s congressional delegation and bottom-of-the-barrel scores for others, “showing democracy is not yet experienced equally” in the state, according to creators of the report.

The 2024 Democracy Scorecard by Common Cause looked at action by U.S. Congress members on “voting rights, Supreme Court ethics and other reforms,” according to a release announcing the results.

The report called the 118th Congress “one of the most dysfunctional in American history.”

“In fact, the first year of this Congress was the least-productive first year of any Congress for nearly 100 years,” Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomon wrote to begin the report.

The research found only 78 standalone bills that were passed into law, less than 1% of all the bills introduced.

Solomon also criticized Congress for failing to “meaningfully respond to the ongoing ethics crisis at the Supreme Court.”

Still, the report showed a vast overall increase in U.S. Congress members who took a “pro-democracy reform position” in their legislative votes and co-sponsorships. The number of members with perfect scores went from 58 in 2020’s scorecard to 117 this year.

Based on the research, led by senior director of legislative affairs Aaron Scherb, Ohio had five members who earned a “perfect or near-perfect” score, while three received a “zero.”

Those with a perfect score were U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes. Receiving “near-perfect” scores were U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur and Greg Landsman.

Those receiving a zero in the study were U.S. Reps. Warren Davidson and Jim Jordan, along with U.S. Senator and Republican candidate for vice president J.D. Vance.

The organization tracked congressional votes and cosponsorships on legislation including the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a resolution to amend the Constitution regarding “contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections,” a measure to include a citizenship question in the U.S. Census, another to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and even votes on the expulsion of U.S. Rep. George Santos.

The Freedom to Vote Act would expand voter registration and voting access via methods like automatic and same-day registration, or vote-by-mail. It would also limit the removal of voters from voter rolls, according to the bill language. The John Lewis Act targets discrimination in voting and equal ballot access. Neither of the bills have passed into law, nor has the constitutional amendment resolution, the U.S. Census bill or the proof of citizenship bill.

“As we prepare to go to the ballot box this fall, voters have a decision to make: between democracy and authoritarianism; between freedom and oppression; between accountability and corruption,” she wrote.

Common Cause’s Ohio chapter has been vocal in its criticism of the redistricting process over the last few years, which includes drawing the districts for congressional candidates. The state leg of the advocacy group has also stood in full support of a proposed constitutional amendment (now named November’s Issue 1) that would reform the redistricting process, creating a 15-person citizen-led redistricting commission that would replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission that is made up of elected officials.