If Ohioans are confident in voter integrity, Washington shouldn't mettle

While some states are fighting back against U.S. Justice Department requests for access to their voter registration lists and other elections information, Ohio has begun the four-year process of ensuring voter rolls here are as clean as they can be. Among the states that have received requests from the federal government so far, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin have simply said "no." Officials there say they have questions about the legality of the requests and how the information will be used. After all, state (and, really, county) elections officials are responsible for their own voter rolls, not someone in Washington, D.C. As one piece in the Ohio Capital Journal put it, "Power over voter registration lists is the power to shape the electorate." It is a mark of the importance of those lists that there is such a fight to begin with. And the Justice Department has informed the National Association of Secretaries of State that it will eventually contact ALL of them regarding voter lists, even though it knows states are resisting. Surely Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, too, has questions about why the federal government is seeking voter registration information. We can only hope that when the Justice Department comes calling, he asks the same questions as Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. But the requests should only reinforce his desire to make sure such an important data set is as accurate as possible. Not for the federal government's sake, but for Ohioans'. "Ohio has one of the most efficient and effective voter list maintenance programs in the country," LaRose told The Center Square. "Members of the U.S. House Committee on Administration, which helps to oversee our election laws, have been citing Ohio's voter registration integrity efforts as a model for the nation, and it's one that's been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. We've created a process that's very transparent so Ohioans can have absolute confidence in the integrity of our elections." And, if Ohioans are confident in the work of our county and state elections officials, there is no need for the federal government to meddle, right? Again, LaRose must understand he needs to hold fast if and when that problem presents itself. But in the meantime, the Buckeye State residents must do ourselves a favor and check our voter registration — making sure every detail is accurate. If you receive one of the mailed notices, don't ignore it. It's up to US to make sure our counties and state can get this right.