Checks of voter records coming

Feb 8, 2010 — The Columbus Dispatch

Mark Niquette

Feb. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is completing a plan to address a lingering controversy from the 2008 general election in Ohio that generated national attention, lawsuits and even death threats.

Brunner expects to issue a directive soon detailing what county boards of elections must do when the name or other personal information provided by a voter doesn't match state or federal records after an automatic computer check.

Preliminary guidelines call for counties to mail a notice to voters whose information doesn't match so the voters can update their records. That raises concerns among some county officials about the cost and possible voter confusion.

"I'll send the phone calls to your office," one county elections official told Brunner after hearing details of the plan at the Ohio Association of Election Officials' Winter Conference in Columbus last month.

Brunner said changes must be made, noting that the issue was so controversial in the weeks leading up to the November 2008 election that she had state security protection because of death threats.

"This is something that needed to be done," Brunner told the county officials.

The controversy in 2008 surrounded what elections officials should do when personal information from newly registered voters does not match records at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the Social Security Administration after an automatic computer check required by a 2001 federal law. Voters must provide their name, address, date of birth and either a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when they register.

The Ohio Republican Party unsuccessfully sued Brunner, a Democrat, to release what Brunner said were about 200,000 mismatches. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The GOP said the mismatches should be investigated as a way to catch bogus registrations and prevent vote fraud. (Brunner's office also denied Dispatch public-record requests for the information.)

Brunner said the state's computer system was not designed to process the names, and she suspected that most mismatches were the result of typos or had nothing to do with fraud, such as someone putting "Nicholas" on a driver's license and "Nick" on a voter registration. She also worried that the mismatches could be used to improperly challenge or intimidate voters.

At the time, Brunner said the statewide voter-registration database needed to be scrapped and rebuilt. But the decision was made to update the registration systems in each county as needed to process mismatch information from the secretary of state's office. About $123,000 in federal funds has been budgeted for the effort.

The state also signed an agreement last month with the BMV outlining how the matching process will be handled.

Elections officials were told that they can expect to receive regular notices about mismatches involving newly registered voters so that county records can be flagged in their systems and a notice sent to the voter about what details could not be verified.

There also will be a one-time check of the records of all existing voters against the state and federal databases, and any voters with mismatches also will receive a notice.

Once the voter sends back the notice confirming or correcting the personal information, the registration record will be updated, and the flag in the county system can be removed.

Some county officials complain about the postage expense at a time when their budgets are frozen or being cut. Brunner said she's checking whether funding is available to help defray counties' mailing costs.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine said he's glad the issue is being addressed, but it should have happened much sooner. And he questions whether the plan can be implemented in time for this year's election.

mniquette@dispatch.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0147-41885013