DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN)– Election Day is just days away and the local Board of Elections is ensuring voters that casting their ballot is safer than ever, especially here in Ohio.
“We’ve had historically a 99.98% accuracy rate between the electronic results and the paper results,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
LaRose’s new “Public Integrity Division” will be monitoring the security and accuracy of every ballot cast in Ohio for the first time. LaRose says both voter fraud and suppression have proven to be exceedingly rare in Ohio but they are not taking any chances. Montgomery County Board of Elections says its goal is to increase participation by ensuring ballot security.
“We keep everything sealed,” said Montgomery County BOE Director Sarah Greathouse. “We have sealed recording charts, we have a chain of custody logs, we have so many different pieces of documentation and processes to make sure that every ballot is always in bipartisan custody, that every piece of equipment never touches the internet.”
The Public Integrity Division covers campaign finance reporting, voting certification and registration, investigates election law violations, data retention and more. LaRose hopes the new division will increase voter participation across the state.
“Voting machines are never connected to the internet,” said LaRose. “They’re not capable of being connected to the internet, they’re not allowed under Ohio law to be connected to the internet, it would be a felony to connect a voting machine to the internet.”
You still have time to cast your ballot on Monday in early voting or on Election Day November 8th.
