(THE CENTER SQUARE) – At the end of last year, the Ohio General Assembly changed how people vote. This year, it wants to change how elections are analyzed, results are reported and information is saved.
What Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) are calling the DATA Act would improve election transparency through technology by modernizing and clarifying the way the state defines and archives election records.
LaRose said it’s the first effort by any state to address the old, disjointed ways of election data retention in more than 60 years.
“This is another example of Ohio leading the way,” LaRose said. “It’s all about making sure that the public is empowered with accurate data so they can look at how elections are run and have confidence in knowing that when the election is over, that the true voice of the people was heard.”
The act would create standard definitions of key election data points to analyze post-election results more effectively and accurately. It would also make a centralized office of data analytics and archives within the secretary of state’s office to be a clearinghouse for the retention and review of electronic election records.
LaRose said the ultimate goal of the new office would be to publish election data and results online, allowing for full transparency for results, both immediately following an election for auditing purposes and over time for comparative analysis year-over-year.
Finally, the act would codify a process by which election data must be transferred to the new office for public disclosure.
LaRose said he expects the cost to taxpayers to be slight but worth it.
“It will be something we will keep as minimal as possible, but this is one of those things that is worth investing in,” LaRose said. “I think the people of Ohio expect and want this type of transparency and for us to be able to provide that is money well spent.”
The bill follows Gavarone’s legislation from last year that now requires Ohio voters to show an ID and a bill filed last week, which would create the Election Integrity Division within the secretary of state’s office.
The Election Integrity Division would be required to investigate allegations of election fraud and voter suppression, allow the public to submit complaints, refer cases to a prosecutor, law enforcement or another state or federal agency for review and submit a report to the General Assembly detailing the number of complaints and people referred for investigation.
“The DATA Act, in addition to the laws I wrote to require a photo ID to vote and, with the help of Secretary LaRose, enact some of the most stringent post-election auditing measures in the country, continues to give Ohioans the transparency and trust in their elections that they’ve demanded,” Gavarone said.
