Ohio County election officials grapple with mass voter registration challenges • Ohio Capital Journal

On the eve of the 2024 election, county election officials across Ohio are facing dozens, if not hundreds, of voter registration challenges. Cleveland.com recently detailed the scope of the effort, which was largely led by an organization that grew out of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, the Akron Beacon Journal reported on a parallel effort to challenge Ohio's voter rolls in federal court – this time led by a different organization dedicated to exposing widespread alleged voter fraud. Ohio's Republican attorney general and secretary of state dismissed those claims as “manifestly baseless” and asked the court to dismiss the case. Similar lawsuits have been filed in at least six other states.

Amid this spate of registration challenges, voting rights groups have sprung into action. In a letter Thursday to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the ACLU, the Brennan Center, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters argued that voters should be subject to the federally mandated 90-day exclusion period and notice and termination provisions Waiting period would be unlawfully removed from office.

Also this week, the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center sent letters to election officials in 11 states to provide guidance on what is and isn't legal in these mass registration challenges.

Butler County

One of the biggest targets for registration challenges has been Butler County. Board of Elections Director Nicole Unzicker and Deputy Director Eric Corbin say they have received nearly 1,900 challenges in the current cycle.

“The records we currently maintain show that the last challenge submitted was in 2015,” Unzicker said.

By comparison, Franklin, Ohio's largest county, recorded 1,193 voters since this year's primary. Spokesman Aaron Sellers notes that challenges, especially in a presidential year, are normal, but the current number is higher than in previous cycles.

Some of Butler County’s challenges are trivial. On September 4, for example, the board had to deal with 15 voters whose names had two spaces instead of one. The board voted to eliminate the additional space. But another part of the objections argued that voters in Butler County should be removed from office because they were supposedly registered elsewhere. Corbin said the board took no action because it was not legally possible.

“Based on federal law, the Board of Elections in this situation does not have the authority to cancel a voter’s registration or force them to cast a provisional vote simply because they received one of these (national change of address) changes. ”

Unzicker noted that some residents are snowbirds and move their mail elsewhere part of the year. They have also seen examples of an entire household being reported because one of the children changed their address when they went to college.

Although the challenges of this meeting resulted in nothing, Unzicker explained that there are still costs. State law requires them to investigate when a lawsuit is filed, and they have seen many lawsuits.

“There’s always room for improvement,” she said, “but having those challenges was definitely a — I think we had another 10 meetings for our board to address those voter challenges.”

The broader trend

In their letter, the voting rights groups address actions taken by the Delaware, Muskingum and Logan County Boards of Elections. Unlike in Butler County, in each of those cases, board members relied on allegations that voters had moved away and registered elsewhere. By removing those voters, the panels violated Section 8(d) of the National Voter Registration Act, the groups argued.

This provision prohibits the removal of a voter from the electoral rolls due to a change of residence unless the voter specifically requests removal or fails to respond to a notice and then does not vote in the next two federal elections. If that sounds familiar, it's because it's the same provision that powers Ohio's “supplemental process,” which opponents often call “voter purge.”

Because the counties removed their voters from office without waiting the required four years, the counties violated federal law.

“As recent U.S. Department of Justice guidance has made clear, absent written confirmation from the voter themselves, removal due to a change of residence must comply with the (notice and wait) provisions of Section 8(d),” they wrote.

They add that by taking on the challenges, counties are also likely violating Section 8(c), which sets a 90-day deadline for any program to “systematically” remove voters from the voter rolls.

“The challenges being addressed in Delaware County – and potentially other Ohio counties – have all the hallmarks of systematic challenges,” they argued.

They point out that the challengers did not offer “individual or personalized knowledge,” but rather shared data they collected from third parties based on “predominantly non-governmental sources,” and that in some cases the challengers themselves did not even show up for the hearing.

In Delaware County, the board is deadlocked on challenges based on third-party databases, but that doesn't mean voters are in the clear. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose casts the tie-breaking vote, and the groups note they are not sure he has taken steps to resolve the issue. Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, warned him against disenfranchising these voters and ensuring that any improper removals are restored.

“As Ohio’s chief election official, Secretary LaRose must ensure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act,” she said. “It is his duty and responsibility to become fully familiar with federal election law, and we urge him to refrain from unlawful removals and expediently address any violations.”

The source

Aaron Ockerman, who serves as executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, said the recent uptick in challenges is due in large part to the Ohio Election Integrity Network.

The Ohio Capital Journal reached out to OEIN for this story without a response. The organization is the state chapter of a group founded by Cleta Mitchell. After the 2020 election, Mitchell was heavily involved in efforts to overturn the results in Georgia, and more recently she heightened fears that non-citizens might vote in the 2024 election.

Ockerman said election officials understood the need for accurate voter lists and respected the process for challenging discrepancies. “Nobody wants to hear a bureaucrat complain about how he has to do his job,” he joked, “and that’s part of our job, right?”

Still, he said activists are testing the limits of a small-scale, ad hoc system.

“Our understanding of the law is that it should be used more by people with personal knowledge,” Ockerman said. “Maybe their neighbor moved or something and they're still on the voter rolls, or their neighbor died and they're still on the voter rolls or something like that.”

Kelly Dufour of Common Cause Ohio has tracked registration challenges across Ohio and her tally is as high as 17 counties.

“The challengers who are bringing the challenges are doing so in a very concerted manner and with an agenda,” she argued. “These are not people who just became interested in data one day and decided to sit down and help the Board of Elections.”

Dufour argued that the problem was exacerbated by LaRose's silence on the issue. Without guidance from the state level, counties with disparate resources will have to navigate a process some have not dealt with in years. And even though every notice filed with the agency triggers a complicated process, that doesn't mean the underlying claim is substantiated.

“In some cases, the challengers were actually submitting forms for rejected voters who weren’t even registered in the county,” she said.

Still, Dufour fears that even unfounded claims could undermine the process and confidence in the results.

“At a time when all political parties should be focused on registering voters to participate,” she said, “some are instead intentionally trying to just sow distrust and seem to not care about the voters.” deprive you of the right to vote.”

Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.