DeWine Vetoes Ohio Absentee Ballot ID Bill and Submetering Measure; Ayotte Vetoes New Hampshire Abortion Bill

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed two bills on or around June 24-25, 2026: House Bill 173, which would have exempted submetering companies from public utility regulation, and House Bill 472, which would have required absentee voters to show photo ID when mailing in ballots. DeWine also signed HB 479 with a line-item veto to protect funding for the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia's Baileys Trail System project. Separately, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte signed 74 bills into law, including SB 627 relating to toll rate adjustments for the state's turnpike system, while vetoing HB 232, which concerned abortion conscience protections, citing existing federal protections as sufficient. Regarding HB 173, DeWine's office stated the bill's consumer protections for submetering company customers were not as robust as those afforded to standard regulated electric utility customers. On HB 472, DeWine said the bill contained a useful provision allowing online absentee ballot applications, but concluded the overall bill imposed "all burden for so little benefit," leading to the veto despite supporting that one element. Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn and Ohio House Democrats praised the veto of HB 472, arguing it would have created new barriers to absentee voting without improving election security; Democrats had previously sent DeWine a letter urging him to veto the bill after it passed the House. Ayotte's office did not provide additional detail beyond the stated rationale for vetoing HB 232 and other unspecified measures. Both vetoes in Ohio and New Hampshire represent final dispositions of the named bills for this legislative session, though the full list of other bills vetoed by Ayotte beyond HB 232 was not detailed in available reporting. It remains unresolved which other bills, besides HB 232, Ayotte vetoed, and no reporting indicates whether the Ohio legislature intends to attempt an override of DeWine's vetoes on HB 173 or HB 472. The broader legislative and political reactions to Ayotte's vetoes, including from opposing parties, were not addressed in the available reports.