Elections chief says Ohio voter list maintenance needs update

Published 10:02 am Wednesday, September 25, 2019

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s elections chief says the state’s system of maintaining voter rolls is outdated and possibly to blame for some of the recent cases of inactive voters being erroneously removed from the rolls.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said during a National Registration Day event Tuesday that his efforts at transparency revealed some of the process’s flaws. He said finding those weaknesses ultimately will make the system stronger.

As more Ohioans are registering online, LaRose said he may push for the registration list to be centrally maintained.

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Currently, each of Ohio’s 88 bipartisan county election boards maintains its own list. LaRose said that makes it difficult to efficiently identify duplicate registrations and voters who have moved or died, as Ohio law requires.

LaRose said Ohio elections are safe and secure.