Throughout 2024, Republican officials in Ohio and across the country have been raising the alarm about potential voter fraud ahead of the November election. But Election Day passed without incident, and a post-election audit released delayed last month confirmed what many advocates have been saying all along – Ohio’s election system is exceptionally secure and right.
“Ohioans deserve to know their elections are transparent, accessible and accountable,” said Secretary of State Frank LaRose in a press release. “As 2024 comes to a close, I am proud to announce another 99.9% audit accuracy rate and am grateful for the hard work and dedication of Ohio’s bipartisan election officials who made it happen.”
LaRose then noted that for the presidential race in particular, all 88 counties reported 100% accuracy.
How it works
County boards must audit three races – the one at the top of the list, another statewide race selected by the clerk, and a local race selected by the county board. The review must include at least 5% of the total votes cast in the district.
In addition to the presidential race, the latest district survey reviewed the U.S. Senate race and a number of local contests such as county commissioner and prosecutor. The accuracy rate for Senate races was 99.997% and for local races, it was 99.998%.
These numbers match the results that officials have achieved after every recent election. Secretary LaRose boasted that he has required a post-election audit after every election since taking office and thanked state legislators for codifying this practice in the future.
Reality and rhetoric
These mighty audit records are a key reason LaRose and other officials routinely refer to Ohio as the “gold standard” for election integrity. But LaRose himself has spent much of the last year stoking suspicions of voter fraud.
In May, LaRose identified 137 potential foreigners in the statewide voter registration database as part of the annual audit. While he acknowledged in his statement that the registrations may be “the result of an honest mistake,” he took the opportunity to share his findings with conservative media as an example of his efforts to combat fraud and resistance from federal agencies for not giving him access to some of the databases.
LaRose’s allegations were cited as fact by House Speaker Mike Johnson while lobbying for a bill requiring proof of citizenship when voting. Several state lawmakers in Ohio recently had the same idea.
As it happens, LaRose’s audit included a handful of recently naturalized citizens. Some of them argued that the secretary cut corners by including people who did not meet certain statutory requirements to be flagged.
Still, in the run-up to last year’s election, these concerns caused some Ohio counties to file thousands of voter registration applications — sometimes for discrepancies as insignificant as an extra space in their name.
Just two weeks before the election, Attorney General Dave Yost announced that his office had investigated hundreds of cases reported by LaRose and uncovered six cases of illegal voting. Yost complained that he was asked to investigate several cases that were down to plain registration errors, only to find that one of the people they accused was already dead. Meanwhile, other cases sound similar honest misunderstandings not intentional fraud.
Additionally, LaRose became involved in a dispute over access to ballot boxes. After a federal court ruled that people with disabilities must be able to get support from a wider range of people than the list of immediate family defined in state law, it implemented a recent policy requiring people who support others to sign a form stating that they are doing so in compliance with state law. In the name of combating “ballot harvesting,” these changes included access to table drop boxes for anyone who did not drop their own ballot – whether they were assisting a person with a disability or one of the close family members specifically outlined in state law .
LaRose even went so far as to send a letter to state lawmakers encouraging them to phase out drop boxes altogether. Two state lawmakers included this provision in a regulation requiring proof of citizenship to vote.
Reactions
In response to the latest election broadcast, Ohio Association of Election Officials Executive Director Aaron Ockerman said, “Once again, Ohio election officials rose to the occasion and ensured an efficient, trustworthy and fair election.”
“Post-election audits of the 2024 presidential elections confirm what we have known for many years,” he added. “Ohioans can trust their election results.”
Jen Miller, who heads the League of Women Voters of Ohio, praised the work of election officials.
“We commend Ohio’s diligent election officials for conducting a safe and reliable election again,” she said. “These are public servants who deserve raises in Ohio’s next budget.”
Miller then highlighted the consequences of another sterling audit.
“The audit results prove that fraud is extremely rare in Ohio, which is why we caution Secretary LaRose and lawmakers against changing voting laws that would likely restrict access without improving security.”
Follow the OCJ reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.
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