In addition to physical and cyber security measures there are a number of practices and policies that ensure the integrity of the election. Elections are staffed in a bipartisan manner, with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans on the Board, in the office, and serving as poll workers on Election Day. The most sensitive areas of the office, where ballots and voting equipment are stored, are under double lock, meaning that a key belonging to a Democratic staff member and a key belonging to a Republican staff member are required to open those areas. Voting equipment is also stored in steel security carts to ensure that security is maintained when the equipment is delivered to polling places for Election Day. As required by law, all voting equipment is tested before every election in a process called Logic and Accuracy testing. This testing ensures that the equipment not only works, but that it tabulates ballots the way they are marked. This is done by marking a certain number of ballots, counting those ballots by hand, and then scanning them through the tabulators to ensure that the numbers match. No machine that fails this testing can be deployed. After the election is complete the machines are tested again by a post-election audit, in which at least 5% of the ballots cast in the election are hand-counted and compared against the machine-tabulated result. Ohio requires the records pertaining to these tests to be publicly available, and most of the activities performed at the Board office are either conducted in a public meeting (as required by Ohio’s open records and meetings laws) or can be observed by duly appointed election observers.

   It is not only voting equipment and ballots that require protection: our voter registration database has also received numerous security upgrades in addition to the steps that have long been taken to ensure its accuracy and integrity. Ohio has a statewide voter registration database that is used to identify and resolve duplicate registrations in the state. If someone moves to Clark County and registers to vote, this system identifies whether they are already registered in another county, and if so there is a process to merge the voter records to eliminate the duplicate. Likewise, deceased Ohioans are removed from the voter database monthly using Ohio Department of Health death records as well as records identified by the Secretary of State’s office through the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events system. If any family member wishes to proactively have a deceased loved one removed from the voter rolls, they may do so by providing a certified copy of the death certificate. The system is also monitored for voters who may have moved using the National Change of Address system and by comparing records to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles database.