Secretary of State Jon Husted has been vigilant about maintaining the integrity of Ohio’s voter rolls. He has followed a reasonable course based on understanding and common sense, and hasn’t been swayed by partisan sniping, either from within his own Republican Party or from the other side of the aisle. So the strong backing of both Husted and the Ohio Senate should assure members of the Ohio House that allowing online voter registration is a sound and reasonable idea. It only would make it easier for people to exercise their right to vote and would, if anything, make data that are already stored online easier to cross-check for errors and fraud. “Online registration can boost participation while improving efficiency, ensuring accuracy and preventing fraud at the same time,” Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Copley, told a House committee last week.
The Senate voted 31-1 in June to authorize online registration, after the issue already had been kicking around for several years. Already, 29 states plus the District of Columbia allow it. Arizona was the first to allow paperless registration, in 2002. Iowa and New Mexico are the most recent states to begin online voter registration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures website.
Ohioans have gotten used to voting using touchscreen machines, and the majority of people today use the Internet daily. The longstanding method of filling out a registration form using a pen and paper is open to mistakes and fraud, if one wanted to fill out the form with a false name or other fake data. Verifying information on a paper ballot is more laborious and time-consuming.
Full Article: House should OK online registration | The Columbus Dispatch.