WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE
How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
(A)(1) No prosecution shall commence for a violation of a provision in sections 145.054, 742.043, 3307.073, 3309.073, 3517.08 to 3517.12, 3517.13, 3517.20 to 3517.22, 3517.24, 3599.03, 3599.031, or 5505.045 of the Revised Code unless a complaint has been filed with the secretary of state under section 3517.16 of the Revised Code and all proceedings under sections 3517.16 to 3517.18 of the Revised Code are completed.
(A)(2) A complaint may be filed with the secretary of state under section 3517.16 of the Revised Code for a violation of a provision in sections 3501.35, 3599.13, 3599.14, or 3599.21, division (A) of section 3599.11, or division (A)(1) or (2) of section 3599.12 of the Revised Code that occurs on or after September 30, 2025. A prosecution may commence for a violation of such a provision at any time before or after a complaint has been filed with the secretary of state under section 3517.16 of the Revised Code.
(B)-(D) cleared
This section is the procedural gateway for prosecuting election-law violations: no prosecution may commence for listed provisions until a complaint has been filed with the Secretary of State and the complaint proceedings are completed. The bill amends the list of covered provisions to add the new section 3517.24 (deceptive synthetic media), so the complaint-and-review machinery now applies to the AI offense.
The remaining subdivisions govern the Ohio Election Integrity Commission's authority to hear referred matters, render advisory opinions, issue subpoenas, and maintain a public website. These are institutional and procedural provisions that impose no AI-specific compliance duty on regulated parties; they are retained here only because they set the enforcement scope for the new synthetic-media rule.
(A)(1)-(3) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(4) of this section, any person who has personal knowledge of a violation of a provision of the Revised Code listed in division (A) of section 3517.15 of the Revised Code may file a complaint with the secretary of state, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and signed under penalty of perjury. (2) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(4) of this section, an official at a board of elections may file a complaint with the secretary of state, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and signed under penalty of perjury, alleging a violation of a provision of the Revised Code listed in division (A) of section 3517.15 of the Revised Code. (3) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(4) of this section, the election integrity unit of the office of the secretary of state may initiate a complaint alleging a violation of a provision of the Revised Code listed in division (A) of section 3517.16 of the Revised Code.
(A)(4) Only a candidate who has personal knowledge of a violation of section 3517.24 of the Revised Code and who is materially harmed by the violation may file a complaint alleging a violation of that section. The candidate shall file the complaint with the secretary of state, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and signed under penalty of perjury, and shall describe with particularity the material harm to the candidate caused by the violation.
(B)-(F) cleared
This section governs who may file complaints and how the Secretary of State's election integrity unit processes them. For the new deceptive-synthetic-media offense, the bill imposes a narrow standing rule: only a candidate who has personal knowledge of a violation of section 3517.24 and who is materially harmed by that violation may file a complaint, and the candidate must describe the material harm with particularity. This standing limitation is the primary enforcement gate for the AI obligation.
The remaining subdivisions describe review, dismissal, investigation, joinder, the Secretary of State's decision options, notice and objection rights, and conflict-of-interest recusal to the attorney general. These are procedural mechanics that create no independent AI compliance duty on regulated parties.
The secretary of state shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that are necessary for the administration and enforcement of sections 3517.08 to 3517.13, 3517.20 to 3517.22, 3517.24, 3599.03, and 3599.031 of the Revised Code and shall provide each candidate, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, political party, and person making disbursements to pay the direct costs of producing or airing electioneering communications with written instructions and explanations in order to ensure compliance with sections 3517.08 to 3517.13, 3517.20 to 3517.22, 3517.24, 3599.03, and 3599.031 of the Revised Code.
This section directs the Secretary of State to adopt administrative rules and to furnish written instructions and explanations necessary for the administration and enforcement of enumerated campaign-finance and election statutes. The bill adds section 3517.24 to the enumerated list, so future rulemaking and compliance guidance will encompass the new deceptive-synthetic-media disclosure requirement.
This is a delegation of future rulemaking authority to a government official rather than a compliance obligation on regulated parties; it foreshadows implementing regulation but imposes no present AI duty.
(A) As used in this section, "deceptive synthetic mediadeceptive synthetic media"deceptive synthetic media" means an image or an audio or video recording of a real individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that is realistic but false, that is created or intentionally manipulated using generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology, and to which either of the following apply: (1) It appears to a reasonable person to depict the individual making a statement the individual did not make or taking an action the individual did not take. (2) It gives a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the individual's appearance, speech, or conduct than an unaltered, original version of the image or audio or video recording would give the reasonable person.R.C. 3517.24(A)" means an image or an audio or video recording of a real individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that is realistic but false, that is created or intentionally manipulated using generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology, and to which either of the following apply: (1) It appears to a reasonable person to depict the individual making a statement the individual did not make or taking an action the individual did not take. (2) It gives a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the individual's appearance, speech, or conduct than an unaltered, original version of the image or audio or video recording would give the reasonable person.
(B)(1)-(3) 1 cleared
This is the substantive heart of the bill. Subdivision (A) defines deceptive synthetic media as a realistic-but-false image, audio, or video of a real individual's appearance, speech, or conduct created or intentionally manipulated with generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology, where it either depicts the individual making a statement or taking an action they did not, or gives a fundamentally different impression than the unaltered original would.
Subdivision (B) creates the operative duty: during the 90-day window before an election, no person may knowingly create and disseminate (or cause to be created and disseminated) deceptive synthetic media with intent to affect the election's results as to a candidate unless the media carries a prescribed AI-disclosure statement. The statute specifies exact label language and format for images (readable written statement no smaller than the largest text in the image), audio (spoken statement at the beginning and end, and every two minutes for recordings over two minutes), and video (written statement displayed for the entire duration). This is a labeling obligation on the publisher of the AI-generated political content, triggered by what the content says and depicts.
(A)-(DD) cleared_editorial_compression
(EE)(1)-(2) Whoever violates section 3517.24 of the Revised Code in a manner that causes material harm to a candidate is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree on a second or subsequent offense, except that the person shall be fined not more than three thousand dollars on a second or subsequent offense. (2) A person who violates section 3517.24 of the Revised Code in manner that does not cause material harm to a candidate is not subject to any penalty for that violation.
This section is the omnibus penalty schedule for Ohio's campaign-finance and election statutes. The bill's only AI-relevant addition is subdivision (EE), which sets criminal penalties for the new deceptive-synthetic-media offense under section 3517.24: a violation causing material harm to a candidate is a first-degree misdemeanor on a first offense and a fifth-degree felony on a second or subsequent offense (capped at a $3,000 fine), while a violation causing no material harm to a candidate carries no penalty at all.
The remaining lettered divisions are pre-existing penalty provisions for unrelated campaign-finance violations and impose no new AI obligation. They are retained here as the enforcement backdrop for the synthetic-media rule.