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Secretary Of State Still Awaiting Final Results On Returned Registrations From Deleted Voters
By: Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau
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Today is the first day of early voting for the May primary – which means yesterday was the last day to register to vote. And though turnout in off-year primaries is especially low, there may be those who will try to vote but find they’ve been removed from the rolls.
In February, Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office sent 270,000 registration forms to voters told by county boards of elections they’d been removed for not updating their addresses and not voting in the last six years.
LaRose said then it would cost up to $75,000, though voters can register and update registrations online for free – and says now he still believes in the outreach.
“If that mailing results in just one or two more Ohioans being registered to vote then I think it’s worth it, but I think the numbers are going to be more than that,” LaRose says.
LaRose says he doesn’t have any numbers on how many forms were returned as undeliverable, but says the vast majority likely went to duplicate addresses or those of people who’ve died or moved out of state.
LaRose and his wife cast their early vote for the primary today.