Editing Loyalty oath (section)

====Ohio====
In the March 2008 State of Ohio presidential primary, some people might have been required to sign a loyalty oath in order to vote. Voters who wish to switch their party affiliation on Primary Election Day and who are challenged are supposed to sign a statement "stating that the person desires to be affiliated with and supports the principles of the political party whose ballot the person desires to vote."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3513.19 |title=Ohio Revised Code 3513.19 Challenges at primary elections |publisher=Codes.ohio.gov |access-date=2013-09-12}}</ref> The statement is signed under penalty of "election falsification." If the challenged person refuses to sign the statement under penalty of election falsification, he is given a provisional ballot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3513.20 |title=Ohio Revised Code 3513.20 Effect of challenge to voter at primary |publisher=Codes.ohio.gov |date=1981-10-20 |access-date=2013-09-12}}</ref>

''The Cleveland Plain Dealer'', among others, thus describes the nature of the statement and effect of "election falsification": Anyone who signs this loyalty oath, but does not intend to honor it, can be prosecuted for "election falsification", a fifth-degree felony.<ref name="The Plain Dealer">{{cite web
 |title       = Parties shouldn't require loyalty oaths at the polls
 
 |url         = http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1205224432165421.xml&coll=2
 |date        = 11 March 2008
 |work        = The Plain Dealer
 |access-date  = 2008-03-25
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607182602/http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fopinion%2F1205224432165421.xml&coll=2
 |archive-date = 7 June 2011
}}</ref>

The statute, however, describes the offense differently: "No person, either orally or in writing, on oath lawfully administered or in a statement made under penalty of election falsification, shall knowingly state a falsehood as to a material matter relating to an election in a proceeding before a court, tribunal, or election official, or in a matter in relation to which an oath or statement under penalty of election falsification is authorized by law..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3599.36 |title=Ohio Revised Code 3599.36 Election falsification |publisher=Codes.ohio.gov |access-date=2013-09-12}}</ref> Thus the requirement is, arguably, more a statement of current intent than a loyalty oath's promise of future support.