In a push for robust election transparency, Ohio has taken a significant stride with launching an online portal that provides daily voter registration data. This news comes from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who, according to an announcement made today, stated that the resource is part of the state's efforts to honor the DATA Act, a first-of-its-kind legislation aimed at election record uniformity and accessibility.
The portal, which went live at OhioSoS.gov/Data, offers freshly updated statistics on voter registrations throughout Ohio's 88 counties, furnishing details on new sign-ups, modifications, and removals from voting rosters now, Ohio law dictates that each election board must craft a "daily snapshot" of its voter database by 4 p.m. each day, a mandate that's rolled out across a state that prides itself on its fully decentralized system for election administration.
With these measures, Secretary LaRose seeks to solidify public confidence in the state's electoral process, expressing in the released statement, Ohio Secretary of State FrankLaRose, "Transparency earns trust, and I’ll continue to do everything in my power to make Ohio's elections the most transparent in the nation."
Under this initiative, LaRose has spearheaded several new programs, including the Data Integrity Program and the lead in a national campaign to streamline election data sharing that, alongside the new data porta,l is designed to enhance the accuracy and openness of the state's election administration, the public is also encouraged to help by flagging discrepancies found in the open data for the state office to investigate and rectify.
Endorsements for Ohio’s transparent approach have come from various corners, with Ken Blackwell, Chairman of the Center for Election Integrity at America First Policy Institute and former Ohio Secretary of State, lauding Secretary LaRose for fulfilling his promise to enhance transparency, as per his remarks on the Ohio Secretary of State's press release, "Secretary LaRose is keeping his promise to make Ohio's elections more transparent and accountable than ever before by delivering better data with unprecedented public access." Similarly, accolades also came from Matthew Weil, executive director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Democracy Program, and Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, who admired Ohio's steps toward a transparent election process, hoping for other states to adopt similar standards.
