There’s a lot of hysteria out there promoted by Republicans screaming “voter fraud” lately. It’s more hype than substance. The facts are these: Illegal voting is rare. The highly-respected and non-partisan League of Women Voters said in a report that between 2002 and 2005 in Ohio, there were four cases of illegal voting out of about eight million ballots cast.

The Columbus Dispatch, in a recent article, went even further in saying that since the 1950s, there were six convictions in Ohio for illegal voting. From then until now, that’s about one a decade. Voter registration problems don’t translate into illegal voting because of the myriad of safeguards at the county and state level, including confirmation cards for new voter registrants; comparisons against state and federal databases of information provided by new registrants and thefact that one has to show ID at the polls.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has worked tirelessly with local elections officials of both major parties to restore Ohioans confidence in elections. She has put in place consistent, statewide guidance to elections officials long ignored by former secretaries of state. She has made tough decisions based on the laws put in place by hyper partisans now looking to screw up the November election to score political points.

But the proof has been in the pudding. The March primary election was widely heralded as a success. And the absentee balloting period has gone off without nary a hitch.

Ohioans can rest assured that Ohio elections officials will run a good, clean election come Nov. 4. Brunner and local elections officials will make sure of it.

Craig A. Allen

Ironton