Earlier this month, more than 154,000 inactive voter registrations in Ohio were removed from the voter rolls.
While that sounds significant, in a state of 11 million people, that’s not an excessive number. The purge included people who hadn’t voted in four years; voters who hadn’t notified their local election board of an address change; people who were previously considered “red-flagged” and were supposed to be removed but weren’t; and 499 noncitizens who are legally barred from voting in Ohio.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that nearly 4,000 people whose registrations were canceled notified election officials to be reinstated on the voter rolls.
Last week, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose also forwarded criminal charges of alleged voter fraud to prosecutors in 20 counties and announced the expansion of the state’s Public Integrity Division, which he created in 2022.
Supporting election integrity is like supporting clean air and clean water; it’s something we all want and expect. Taking action to preserve them is all well and good, as long as it’s done for the right reasons and isn’t a cynical, money-spending attempt to discourage people from participating in the process.
The accusation by some that voter fraud is widespread and a daily occurrence assumes the worst about our fellow Americans. This accusation is also inaccurate. According to LaRose’s own official report, the state’s 2020 election accuracy rate was 99.9% after a review of all 88 counties.
In 2023, the Ohio Capital Journal investigated 641 complaints of voter fraud filed by LaRose during his time in office and found that only 18 of them resulted in indictment and 13 in conviction.
That’s a good thing, isn’t it?
But in 2023, LaRose withdrew Ohio from the Election Registration Information Center, a nonpartisan, state-by-state network created in 2012 to help states share voter registration data to combat fraud and encourage registration. The withdrawal came on the heels of unsubstantiated complaints in right-wing media that the system was rigged in favor of Democrats, along with false claims that liberal billionaire bogeyman George Soros was funding the work.
Nine states have left ERIC, all of them Republican-run. LaRose did so despite telling NPR just a month before Ohio’s exit that ERIC was “one of the best tools we have to ensure the accuracy of our voter data.”
Meanwhile, instead of using his position to promote transparency, Governor Mike DeWine has vowed to help defeat the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment, a ballot bill to replace the current Ohio Redistricting Commission (made up of seven elected officials, including the governor and secretary of state) with a 15-member committee directly elected by the people.
Former and current politicians and lobbyists would not be eligible to take office. Membership applications would be reviewed by a non-partisan panel of retired judges.
Such committees already exist in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana and Washington.
DeWine argues that such a system would only exacerbate gerrymandering.
Worse than our current electoral maps – which DeWine voted for – which have been repeatedly invalidated by the courts because they look like they were drawn by a preschooler high on Mountain Dew and Sugar Frosted Flakes?
How can the collective judgment of ordinary people be worse than the maps drawn by a secret cabal of Republicans in a hotel room in 2011?
The right to vote, the ability to have a say in the appointment of people to office, and the ability to approve or reject legislative proposals and political measures are the lifeblood of a democratic republic.
Check your registration status at voterlookup.ohiosos.gov or visit registrationreadiness.ohiosos.gov to see if your registration has been canceled.
Voting by mail for military personnel and voters living abroad begins on September 20. The voter registration deadline is October 7.
If you are eligible to vote but your registration has been cancelled, you can register again.
Don’t miss the chance to voice your opinion.
An addendum to the national anthem
It has been brought to my attention that one of my recent columns on the difficulties of singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” has generated some reaction.
And how.
Several readers took exception, which is fine—that’s what America is all about. One reader wisely pointed out that the anthem isn’t just a song; it records a historical event. She’s absolutely right, but unfortunately the history lesson can be lost when the performance sounds like a bagpipe full of cats.
In other words, the main problem is not the anthem itself, but that the singers take it hostage.
If I failed to get that message across, that’s my problem. Even though the headline said something different, my suggestion that we might consider a new anthem for our 250th anniversary was not a demand, just a point for discussion.
However, the saying still applies here: “He who explains, loses.”
Nevertheless, I stand by my main point: at sporting events, the singing of the national anthem should simply be left to the late, great Whitney Houston and that would be the end of the matter.
Charita M. Goshay is an editor at the Canton Repository and a member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
