COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The number of states that will accept late-arriving mail-in ballots during next year's critical midterm elections continues to dwindle, as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine “reluctantly” signed new restrictions into law Friday, citing the uncertainty of pending litigation to ban the counting of such ballots in his state.
President Donald Trump has also moved to eliminate the practice nationally.
DeWine, a term-limited Republican, had warned Ohio's GOP-led Legislature in 2023 that a sweeping package of election law changes he signed that year would likely be the last voting restrictions he would let past his veto pen. Election integrity in the state, he said, had been amply assured.
But, despite having reservations, DeWine on Friday signed legislation eliminating Ohio's four-day grace period for absentee ballots and making other voting changes.
“I believe that this four-day grace period is reasonable, and I think for many reasons it makes a lot of sense,” he 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.”
DeWine, though, said he his hand was forced, given the uncertain outcome of a Mississippi case that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide next summer. Justices have taken up the state's appeal after a panel of three judges nominated by Trump on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that its law allowing ballots that arrive shortly after Election Day to be counted violated federal law.
“No one knows how the Supreme Court will rule," DeWine said. “However, if the court in late June upholds the 5th Circuit case and Ohio's grace period for counting late ballots is still in effect, the election situation in Ohio would be chaotic.”
Such a ruling would create one set of rules for state candidates and a different set of rules for federal candidates, the governor said. Ohio lawmakers would lack time to square the two in time for November ballots to be prepared, causing confusion for voters.
With his signature, the number of states accepting mailed ballots received after Election Day as long as the ballots are postmarked on or before that date has fallen to 14, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many states, including Ohio, continue to make exceptions for late-arriving ballots for certain eligible voters, such as overseas residents and U.S. service members and their families.
Democrats and voter advocacy groups in Ohio had urged DeWine to follow through on his earlier veto threat. They said the grace period bill also increases the number of sanctioned voter registration cancellations and forces more people to use provisional ballots.
“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 in a statement. "Our efforts should be on making it easier for people to participate in our democracy, not harder.”
Republicans continue to amend Ohio's election law despite post-election audits that show the state's results are routinely tallied to near perfection, including after the 2020 election whose results Trump continues to dispute.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a conservative election reform partnership, thanked DeWine for signing the bill.
“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,” Ken Cuccinelli, the group's national chairman, said in a statement.
FILE - Mail-in ballots sit on shelves inside the Trumbull County Board of Elections, Nov. 3, 2020, in Warren, Ohio. (AP Photo/David Dermer, File)
Air traffic controllers lost communication for about 10 minutes with a small Mexican Navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven others before it crashed off the Texas coast, killing at least five people, Mexico's president said Tuesday.
Authorities initially believed the plane had landed safely at its destination in Galveston, near Houston, before learning it had gone down Monday afternoon, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. A search-and-rescue operation in waters near Galveston pulled two survivors from the plane's wreckage, while one remained missing, Mexico’s Navy said.
Four of the eight people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico’s Navy said. Two of the passengers were affiliated with a nonprofit that helps transport Mexican children with severe burns to a hospital in Galveston.
“My condolences to the families of the sailors who unfortunately died in this accident and to the people who were traveling on board,” Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing, without elaborating on a possible cause. “What happened is very tragic.”
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.
The plane crashed Monday afternoon in a bay near the base of the causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He picked up two police officers who guided him through thick fog to a nearly submerged plane. Decker jumped into the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
“I couldn’t believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in," he said. "And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”
He said he also pulled out a man seated in front of her who had already died. Both were wearing civilian clothes.
It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area was experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were at the crash site Monday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said, and a spokesperson for the NTSB said the agency was gathering information about the crash.
Mexico's Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation. In a social media post, the foundation offered condolences to the families and said it shared their grief “with respect and compassion.”
The charity was founded after a mother died trying to save her kids from a fire. One child succumbed to his injuries because he didn't receive highly specialized medical care, while another survived after receiving treatment at Shriners Children's Texas in Galveston. Over 23 years, the foundation has helped transfer more than 2,000 patients to that hospital and other medical facilities with burn expertise, according to charity's website.
The charity's director didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Shriners Children’s Texas said in a statement that it learned of the crash with “profound sadness” but wasn't able to provide any information about the child's condition because the child hadn't yet been admitted.
This latest crash comes amid a year of intense scrutiny on aviation safety after a string of high-profile crashes and the flight disruptions during the government shutdown driven by the shortage of air traffic controllers.
The January mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and an airliner near Washington D.C. was followed by the crash of a medical transport plane in Philadelphia. This fall’s fiery UPS plane crash only added to the concerns. Still, the total number of crashes in 2025 was actually down a bit from last year and experts say flying remains safe overall.
Galveston Police officers watch the water on Galveston Bay west of the Galveston causeway, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, near Galveston, Texas, as emergency personnel search for a small airplane that went down in the bay in heavy fog. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
In this image provided by Sky Decker Jr., authorities and volunteers respond to a Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston, Texas, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Sky Decker Jr. via AP)
Emergency personnel rush a victim of a small plane crash to an awaiting ambulance, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, near the Galveston causeway, near Galveston, Texas. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
In this image provided by Sky Decker Jr., authorities and volunteers respond to a Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston, Texas, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Sky Decker Jr. via AP)null
