Election officials in counties across Ohio are seeing dozens, if not hundreds, of voter registration challenges ahead of the 2024 election. Cleveland.com recently detailed the scope of the effort, largely led by an organization that grew out of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Akron Beacon Journal reported a parallel effort to challenge Ohio’s voter rolls in federal court – this time led by another organization involved in uncovering widespread alleged voter fraud. Ohio’s Republican attorney general and secretary of state rejected these claims, stating that “clearly unfoundedand insisted that the court dismiss the case. Similar lawsuits have been filed in at least six other states.
Amid this wave of registration challenges, voting rights groups have stepped into action. In a Thursday letter to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the ACLU, the Brennan Center, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters argued that voters are being improperly removed after federally mandated 90-day restrictions, notice and waiting periods are in place .
Also this week, the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center sent out letters to election officials in 11 states to offer guidance on what is and is not legal when it comes to mass registration challenges.
Butler County
One of the biggest targets for registration challenges was Butler County. Board of Elections Director Nicole Unzicker and Deputy Director Eric Corbin explain that they have received almost 1,900 calls this cycle.
“From the data we currently have, the last challenge was reported in 2015.” Unzicker said.
By comparison, as of this year’s primary, Ohio’s largest county, Franklin, had 1,193 such candidates running. 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 the challenges in Butler County are petty. ON September 4for example, the board had to deal with 15 voters who had two spaces in their names instead of one. The board voted to remove the extra space. However, another part of the allegations argued that voters in Butler County should be removed because they are allegedly registered elsewhere. Corbin explained that the board took no action because it legally couldn’t.
“The Board of Elections, under federal law, has no authority in such a situation to cancel a voter’s registration or compel a voter to vote on a provisional ballot simply because he or she has received one of these changes (domestic change of address). “
Unzicker noted that some residents are snowbirds and move their mail to other parts of the year. They also saw examples of an entire household being tagged because one of the children changed their address when they went away to college.
While the challenges associated with this meeting were to no avail, Unzicker explained that there were still costs involved. Under state law, they must investigate when an objection has been filed, and they have seen many such challenges.
“There’s always room for improvement,” she said, “but dealing with these challenges certainly was… I think we had an additional 10 meetings of our board to address the constituent challenges.”
A broader trend
IN their lettervoting rights groups are focusing on the activities of the Delaware, Muskingum and Logan County boards of elections. Unlike what happened in Butler County, in each case board members upheld allegations that voters had moved and registered elsewhere. The groups argued that by removing these voters, the councils violated Section 8(b). d) the Act on National Voter Registration.
This provision prohibits the removal of a voter from the rolls due to a change of residence unless the voter expressly requests removal or fails to respond to the request and subsequently fails to vote in two consecutive federal general elections. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same provision that powers Ohio’s “supplemental process,” which opponents often call voter purge.
They claim the counties removed voters without waiting the required four years and violated federal law.
“As explained in recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice, in the absence of written confirmation from the voter himself, removal based on change of residence must be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 8(a). d) regarding notification and waiting,” they wrote. .
They add that by making the challenges, counties are likely also violating Section 8(b). c), which sets a 90-day limit for any program designed to “systematically” remove voters from the rolls.
“The challenges being considered in Delaware County – and potentially in other Ohio counties – have all the hallmarks of systemic challenges,” they argued.
They note that instead of offering “individualized or personalized knowledge,” the challengers shared data they had collected from third parties based on “primarily non-governmental sources,” and in some cases, the challengers themselves did not even show up for the hearing.
In Delaware County, the board is deadlocked over challenges based on third-party databases, but that doesn’t mean voters are certain. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose casts the tie-breaking vote, and groups note they are unsure whether he has taken steps to address the issue. ACLU of Ohio legal director Freda Levenson warned him not to disenfranchise these voters and ensure that any wrongful evictions are reinstated.
“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 be fully knowledgeable of federal election law, and we urge him to refrain from unlawful evictions and correct any violations as appropriate.”
Source
Aaron Ockerman, who serves as executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, explained that the current boost in challenges is largely due to the Ohio Election Integrity Network.
The Ohio Capital Journal reached out to OEIN for this story but has not heard back. The organization is the state branch of a group founded by Cleta Mitchell. After the 2020 election, Mitchell was deeply involved efforts to overturn the results in Georgiaand recently she was reinforcing the fear of foreigners voting in the 2024 elections
Ockerman said election officials understand the need for an right voter roll and respect the process for resolving discrepancies. “Nobody wants to listen to bureaucrats with stomach aches about how they have to do their job,” he joked, “and that’s part of our job, right?”
Still, he said activists are testing the limits of the ad hoc system on a miniature scale.
“Our understanding of the statute is that it was intended to be used more by people with personal knowledge,” Ockerman described. “Maybe their neighbor moved or something and they’re still on the voter roll, or their neighbor died and they’re still on the voter roll, or something like that.”
Kelly Dufour of Common Cause Ohio tracks enrollment challenges across Ohio, and her data covers as many as 17 counties.
“The challengers do it in a very coordinated way, implementing the plan,” she argued. “These are not people who one day simply became interested in data and decided to sit down and be helpful to the electoral commission,” he added.
Dufour argued that LaRose’s silence on the matter made the problem worse. Without guidance at the state level, counties with varying resources must navigate a process that some have struggled to navigate for years. And while each notice filed with the board triggers a complicated process, that doesn’t mean the underlying allegation has any merit.
“In some cases, candidates actually submitted forms for contested voters that weren’t even recorded in the county,” she said.
Dufour remains concerned that even unsubstantiated claims could undermine the process and confidence in the results.
“At a time when all political parties should be focusing on registering voters to vote,” she said, “some are instead deliberately trying to simply sow distrust and seem unconcerned that they are disenfranchising voters in the process.”
Follow the OCJ reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.
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