Dayton Reporter

The state of Ohio has been added to an online voter registration database, with the purpose of increasing voter transparency.

The Voter Reference Foundation (VRF) has added Ohio to VoteRef.com.

"This is being built as a forward-looking tool to ensure transparency and make sure voters can trust in the lists that are the very foundation of our election system," VRF Executive Director Gina Swoboda said, according to VoteRef.com.

The goal of the online voter registration database is to increase transparency by maintaining an updated file of registered voters and their most accurate information.

Ohio was added to the database on Nov. 12, 2021, and is the fifth state to be added, behind Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina. 

Since then, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has been taking measures to ensure that inaccurate voter data is removed from voter rolls in the state of Ohio. LaRose recently instructed the members of election county boards to remove any abandoned voter registrations from the rolls in his effort to "maintain accurate voter lists."

"Getting rid of bad voter data from the voter rolls helps prevent fraud, makes it easier for county boards of elections to do their jobs and strengthens the confidence Ohioans place in our elections," LaRose said, according to his website.

The database's ability to show the discrepancy between number of voters and number of votes cast is a strong possible area of interest for voters. The database also allows crowdsourcing of potential voter fraud.

There is reportedly a wide range of discrepancy among states. The discrepancy in the state of Ohio is 22,425 votes. However, in North Carolina it is only 42.

"In other states, we’ve seen elected officials claim that the discrepancy is explained by people moving or dying between Election Day and the day we requested the voter files," Swoboda told VoteRef.org. "However, explored evidence indicates that isn’t the case — we’re still waiting for answers across a number of states and look forward to receiving feedback from Ohio’s election officials."