CLEVELAND — Access to voting is always an important issue, and it's something that gets talked about a lot online, especially during a presidential election year.
When we posted about an upcoming voter registration purge tied to the National Change of Address (NCOA) database happening in Ohio, we saw people questioning whether this was legitimate, or a strategic move to help one party over the other this November.
THE QUESTION
So let's VERIFY: Is voter registration list maintenance tied to the NCOA database a Republican tactic used to get rid of voters before an election?
SOURCES
Our sources on this are:
- Ohio Secretary of State's website
- Cuyahoga County Board of Elections
- Ohio Revised Code (ORC)
EXPLANATION
It's the secretary of state's job to make sure our elections are carried out fairly. To do that, ORC 3503.21 authorizes removing voters from registration rolls who have moved, and using the NCOA database to do that.
This is required by law to happen every year, not just before presidential elections.
What our current Republican Secretary of State Frank La Rose does that he's not required to do is publish an annual list called the Registration Readiness Roster. The list is meant to give Ohio citizens a chance to update their voter registration before it's canceled under these rules.
Anthony Kaloger, deputy director for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, told us using the NCOA database to cancel voter registrations has been happening for decades.
"This is not something that Republican Frank LaRose or even Jon Husted put into effect when he was secretary of state," Kaloger said. "This process was also being carried out under Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, when she served in that role from 2007 to 2011."
We checked the secretary of state's website, and found a directive that confirms what Kaloger told us dated July of 2007.
ANSWER
So we can VERIFY that no, voter registration list maintenance tied to the NCOA database is not a Republican tactic used to get rid of voters before an election.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Regardless of your party affiliation, if you're concerned about your voter registration, you can check whether it's accurate and active by contacting your county board of elections or by visiting the Ohio Secretary of State website. If you need to, you can also re-register to vote online by Oct. 7 in order to vote in the upcoming November election.
If you come across something that you're unsure about being true or false, you can send it to us to VERIFY by emailing us at verify@wkyc.com, or texting us at (216) 344-3300.