(Columbus) – Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that his office has initiated a routine annual audit of the statewide voter registration database.
This process, required by Ohio law, uses a “Manually Triggered Detailed Audit” protocol designed to heck the accuracy of voter records between the Statewide Voter Registration Database and the 88 county boards of elections. Election officials are required to review and resolve any flagged discrepancies.
“We have one of the strongest election integrity programs in the nation, but it requires constant work to make sure our voter rolls are honest and accurate,” said Secretary LaRose. “Every day an Ohio voter moves, dies, changes a name, or does something that requires a registration to be updated. You’re always going to find discrepancies that need to be clarified or verified, and that’s what this process helps us do.”
The Secretary of State’s office announced last week the first phase of an ambitious election integrity plan aimed at ensuring the accuracy of Ohio’s statewide voter registration database ahead of the November 2024 General Election. Secretary LaRose sent a directive to county boards of elections instructing them to review and report voter registration records that have been confirmed by law as inactive, specifically looking at four categories of inactive registrations:
- Change of Address: Registrations that likely became inactive because a voter moved to a new address and failed to update a registration, engage in any kind of voter-initiated activity, or respond to a confirmation notice.
- Past Due Removals: Registrations previously confirmed as inactive but that appear to remain on the voter rolls after the required four-year waiting period.
- Returned Acknowledgements: Registrations that received an acknowledgement notice from a county board of elections returned as undeliverable by the Postal Service.
- BMV Mismatches: Registrations that do not match the most current identification records maintained by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
“The annual audit compliments the maintenance we’re already doing to the voter rolls,” said Secretary LaRose. “This gives us one more diagnostic tool to flag discrepancies and get them corrected because, at the end of Election Day, we all deserve absolute confidence in the outcome, and that starts with accurate voter lists.”