LaRose expands voter data integrity tool in all 88 Ohio counties
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced this week that he is expanding a statewide election integrity initiative designed to help county boards of elections maintain accurate voter registration records.
Ohio law requires the Secretary of State and the 88 county boards of elections to regularly “verify the accuracy of the information in the statewide voter registration database.”
Last year, the Secretary of State’s new Office of Data Analytics and Archives custom-built a data dashboard designed to flag voter record discrepancies, such as a mistyped character in a name, address, or date of birth. The office recently concluded a pilot project expanding the dashboard to include more data types for county boards to resolve, and that expansion is now being deployed to counties statewide.
“This program has proved to be incredibly successful, and it’s really the first of its kind not only here in Ohio but across the nation,” said Secretary LaRose. “Within the first 60 days of using the expanded data integrity dashboard, the six pilot county boards resolved nearly 97 percent of the issues we flagged. The boards have been able to remedy these records 50 times faster with this tool than they did under previous methods. It’s been so effective that we can roll this out to every county, proving that Ohio remains the national leader in safeguarding election integrity.”
Data Project Background
In June 2024, Secretary LaRose introduced county-specific dashboards to help election officials identify and correct potential inconsistencies in voter records. The initial version of the tool flagged registrations with issues such as:
prohibited name characters
placeholder birthdates
registration before birth
registrations for individuals under 17
impossibly high ages.
The enhancement now being deployed statewide builds upon last year’s foundation by flagging voter records with unverifiable identifying information, including:
Ohio driver license number
Ohio state ID number
last four digits of the Social Security number
date of birth
deceased individuals.
“Using the unique and innovative tool, we were able to identify and correct over 95 percent of the discrepancies the dashboard identified,” said Antone White, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. “This will continue to be a valuable resource as we prepare for important elections in 2025 and beyond.”
“As individuals are constantly registering, moving, or passing away, the voter rolls are the academic definition of a dynamic database,” said Christopher A. Dennison, Deputy Director of the Clermont County Board of Elections. “This new dashboard has been a great tool to help us keep our records accurate and up to date, ensuring sustained confidence in the fair, impartial, and accurate administration of every election.”
“Lake County was pleased when Secretary LaRose introduced this dashboard last year, and it's great to see improvements have been made so quickly,” said Dante Lewis, Director of the Lake County Board of Elections. “Having participated as one of the pilot counties, we are confident this will be a useful tool for all 88 of Ohio’s boards of elections.”
Following the passage of the DATA Act in 2023, the Ohio Secretary of State established the Office of Data Analytics and Archives. This office is dedicated to leveraging innovative solutions to manage election data and promote transparency in Ohio’s electoral process. The Registration Audit Dashboard is the latest tool reinforcing Ohio’s leadership in election integrity.
For more information on Ohio’s data integrity initiatives, visit www.OhioSoS.gov/Data.
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