Sharing the Truth about Ohio Elections by Citizen Volunteer Researchers
Virtually all states have serious election integrity issues, including Ohio. Once you see the data as we have, you cannot unsee. That is why we are here.
Currently, Ohio places a person on the voter rolls before that person’s identification is verified.
Once the person is added to the voter rolls, the Secretary of State verifies the identification with Bureau of Motor Vehicles or Social Security Administration records. If the SOS verification fails, a Confirmation Notice is mailed to the elector asking them to correct their information. If the elector fails to provide correct information:
- the unverified elector remains on the voter rolls with invalid information;
- it is virtually impossible to remove the unverified elector from Ohio’s voter rolls without a minimum 4 year wait;
- the unverified elector can vote in any election in-person or by-mail and can even have an absentee ballot mailed to another address outside of Ohio;
- the unverified elector can sign a petition to amend Ohio’s Constitution.
The Voter Verification Act (VVA) would change this system by requiring these unverified electors to vote a provisional ballot and provide verified information for their provisional ballot to count.
HB552 Voter Verification Act Summary
HB472 Ohio Votes Act Summary
Big Picture Issues:
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Election officials are not computer specialists, but elections rely heavily on computer technology.
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Even when known to be ineligible, a voter registration generally requires 4 or more years to be removed.
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Voting systems are built and certified to outdated 2005 security standards.
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Ohio elections lack safeguards to prevent 267,000+ non-citizens from registering and voting.
Board of Voting System Examiners
ISSUES: The Board lacks cybersecurity expertise and certification standards for voter registration systems.
SOLUTIONS:
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Include cybersecurity experts on the board of voting system examiners.
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Establish standards and require certification of new voter registration systems.
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Cybersecurity review is necessary to certify a new voting system.
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Require publication of voting system certification reports and recommendations.
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Require voter registration systems to be physically located in Ohio in a facility under the board of elections control.
Cybersecurity Standards
ISSUES: Election systems security standards are outdated.
SOLUTIONS:
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Use 3rd party reviewers to conduct a cyber security assessment of voting systems seeking certification.
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Adopt voting system certification standards based on most recent National Institute of Standards & Technology and federal guidelines.
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Require a periodic review and voting system vendor disclosure of software development practices as part of a continued certification security review.
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Require use of a digital blockchain ledger to log all voter registration system changes.
County Voting System Backup
ISSUES: No contingencies exist if a voting system is decertified.
SOLUTIONS:
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Authorize a county opt-in provision for hand counted paper ballots through passage of an electorate introduced ballot petition initiative.
Election Administration
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Requires most people to register to vote using an Ohio driver's license or state identification card number.
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Requires most voters to include a copy of their voter identification when returning a mail-in ballot.
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Requires a provisional ballot to be counted when both a provisional and absentee ballot are cast.
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Requires an elector to sign a form when updating their voter registration.
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Requires online publishing of voter election reports.
Voter Registration Data Validation
ISSUES: State and county voter registration systems contain numerous avoidable data entry errors.
SOLUTIONS:
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Use reference lists of names and addresses to verify new and existing voter registration records.
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Issue weekly reports to counties identifying various errors in their voter registration databases.
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Before adding an applicant to the voter registration database, require the voter registration to match the information on the applicant’s driver’s license or state id card.
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Cancel voter registrations for electors who have moved if they are registered to vote or have applied for a driver’s license in another state.
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Simplify the system for assigning unique record identifiers in the statewide voter registration database.
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Use a commercial service for monthly voter registration data analysis.
Audit Voter Registration Databases
ISSUES: The current audit is not independent or thorough.
SOLUTIONS:
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Require the Auditor of State to conduct an annual audit of the statewide voter registration database and three randomly selected counties.
Identity and Citizenship Verification
ISSUES: There are insufficient safeguards to prevent non-citizens and ineligible persons from registering and voting.
SOLUTIONS:
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Increase the frequency of review for non-citizens and other ineligible voters.
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Provide counties with resources to verify identity and citizenship prior to registration and for absentee and provisional ballot screening.
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Expand voter registration instructions to include citizenship and other eligibility requirements.
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Introduce safeguards and procedures at social services, BMV and registration agencies to ensure noncitizens are not misled into illegally registering to vote.
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Require an elector to vote a provisional ballot until US citizenship is verified.