Reports

Facts to Ponder About the 2004 General Election in Considering House Bill 3

PLEASE NOTE: This report will be continuously updated as new information is added. Please replace any previous version you may have (note the date) with this current version. Updates will be posted at: http://www.clevelandvotes.org/news/reports/facts.html

VOTER REGISTRATION:

Number of Ohio provisional ballots rejected because voter was declared “not registered”[1]…………………………………22,000

Why did this happen? Results of studies in Cuyahoga County can explain this:

Cuyahoga County provisional ballots rejected because voter was declared “not registered”…………………………………5,400

Legitimate provisional voters apparently mistakenly purged from the list of registered voters[2]…………………………………940

Other sources of potential unjustified provisional ballot rejection:

Submitted registration forms that were never entered or entered incorrectly (projected from sample)[3]…………………………………16,800

Submitted registration forms in which voters made errors (projected from sample)…………………………………3,300

Timely warning to voters to check their registration status if they have not received written confirmation from the BOE…………………………………None

Publicly available website database enabling voters to check their registration status…………………………………None

Consistent written procedure for voters to correct errors in their registration before or after the registration deadline…………………………………None

Conclusion: Most “not registered” rejections are likely due to Board of Elections clerical or database problems or procedures, but voter errors or registrations handed in late are also significant problems. However, many additional voters were probably disenfranchised because some poll workers did not provide provisional ballots. Also, after the registration deadline, many voters may have been incorrectly told that they were not registered, when this was really due to BOE or voter registration errors, which caused them not to be on the rolls or only in an unsearchable entry. If results of Cuyahoga County studies (mainly on registrations in Cleveland) are projected to all the major urban areas of Ohio, it is estimated that 25,400 registrants were totally disqualified and 47,100 are at some degree of risk of disqualification mostly because of BOE errors but partly due to voter registration errors[4]. Therefore, registration reforms will reduce both rejected provisional ballots and votes never cast.

WRONG PRECINCT PROBLEM

Number of Ohio voters whose provisional ballots were rejected because they were cast in the wrong precinct[5]…………………………………10,500

Explanation: In Cuyahoga County, about 52% of this group of rejected provisional ballots were cast in the correct polling place[6], and, therefore, were due to poll worker failure to inform. Many of the remainder are likely due to registration errors on the part of the BOE or the voter, as explained above, and to occasional failures of the BOE website, which gave voters erroneous polling places (3 October cases documented). Designation of “jurisdiction” for voting as “county” rather than “precinct” would restore the vote to a majority of these 10,500 disenfranchised voters.

Number of Pennsylvania voters whose provisional ballots were “partially counted” (for all but precinct-specific issues) because they were cast in the wrong precinct (total presidential votes cast in PA almost the same number as in Ohio)…………………………………11,700

Conclusion: In Pennsylvania, votes cast in the wrong precinct were saved whereas, in Ohio, almost the same number of votes were rejected. Also, it does not appear that Pennsylvanians availed themselves of this option more than Ohioans who voted erroneously in the wrong precinct.

ARE PROVISIONAL BALLOT REJECTIONS IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY SIMILAR TO, OR DIFFERENT FROM, OTHER COUNTIES?

The total provisional ballot rejection rate in Cuyahoga County (34%) was third highest in the state (behind Lucas at 41% and Belmont at 39%) but was trailed closely by 4 other counties with 30% or more rejection (including Hamilton >County).

The major reasons for provisional ballot rejection in Cuyahoga County were similar to those of 17 other counties that were polled:

For “not registered”: Cuyahoga…………………………………69% of rejected ballots

17 other counties…………………………………61%

For “wrong precinct”: Cuyahoga…………………………………27% of rejected ballots

17 other counties…………………………………31%

However, within counties, certain subgroups of citizens are at greater risk of rejection. Change of address problems, triggering provisional ballot usage, are likely to be higher in populations that move more frequently; youth, low income, and minorities[7]. For instance, in Cuyahoga County, provisional ballot rejection in precincts with over 90% black populations was nearly twice as great as in precincts that are 10% or less black.

Conclusion: Total percent of provisional ballots rejected in Cuyahoga County were in the state’s highest group but reasons for rejection were similar to other counties. Therefore, the detailed analysis of reasons for rejection in Cuyahoga County given on pages 1 and 2 are likely to apply to most other Ohio counties; i.e., Cuyahoga County results were not atypical.

DID REJECTED PROVISIONAL BALLOTS LOSE MORE VOTES FOR DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS IN OHIO IN 2004?

Calculated number of rejected provisional votes of Republicans[8]…………………………………16,300 (47%)

Calculated number of rejected provisional votes of Democrats…………………………………18,000 (51%)

Conclusion: Rejection of provisional votes is a bipartisan issue. Correction of the errors noted above, as well as using “county” as the “jurisdiction” will prevent disenfranchisement of voters of both parties.

UNRECORDED VOTES DUE TO ABSENTEE VOTING BY MAIL WITHOUT SECOND CHANCE FEEDBACK (General Election, 2004):

Percent of unrecorded absentee presidential votes in Cuyahoga County…………………………………3.3%

Percent of unrecorded NON-absentee (i.e. polling place) votes in Cuyahoga County…………………………………1.8%

Number of unrecorded absentee votes lost statewide if the percentage were the same as in Cuyahoga County[9]………………………19,569

Conclusion: Absentee voters must be encouraged to vote at the Board of Elections on devices (immediate-feedback optical scan or electronic machine) which reduce under- and over-votes. Voting devices with feedback have national incidence of about 1.7-1.8% unrecorded votes, i.e. they cut the voter error rate by more than twofold, and more so in low income communities[10].

LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR VOTER FRAUD

Number of cases of voter/registration fraud in Nov. 2004 election under investigation as of March 21, 2005 by Cuyahoga County (with 313,000 non-duplicate registration/change of address forms submitted and over 655,000 votes cast)…………………………………2

Number of cases of Voter Fraud brought to Ohio Courts of Appeals, 2000-present, with over 8 million votes cast in the 2000 & 2002 Ohio General Elections…………………………………0

Number of fraudulent attempts to vote in the course of 2 Ohio general elections (2002 and 2004) in which over 9 million votes were cast[11]…………………………………4

Number of voter fraud problems reported nationally after the Department of Justice used “all available means” and mounted “a formidable effort” to detect voter fraud in the November 2002 General Elections[12]…………………………………”few problems”

Incidence of election fraud across 50 states in the largest study to date of election fraud[13]…………………………………”minimal”

The available data in Ohio is in good agreement with this national data. In early April, volunteers from the Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition called Sheriffs and County Prosecutor Offices in 13 counties that had been named in allegations of "rampant" voter registration fraud in a report by Mark Hearne submitted to Congressional hearings on March 21, 2005[14]. We also received information from ACORN/Project Vote and ACT, which had been named in many of these allegations. Although the responses from some of the Counties were indefinite, we could piece together the existence of a total of 5 prosecutions (including a conviction in Defiance County) and a few more cases possibly under investigation. Unfortunately, there is no state office that keeps track of these investigations and prosecutions.

Our current estimate is that the number of proven voter registration fraud cases for the 2004 election will be between 5 and 10. This must be seen in context: Over 750,000 new registrations were submitted statewide in 2004. If there were 100 such registrations submitted per case (as in Defiance County), then, at most, 1,000 questionable registrations were submitted, which represents about a tenth of 1% of all registrations. Also, the COHHIO/LWV OH report found only 4 cases of fraudulent voting among 9 million votes¹¹. In sum, our present system works well to correct a minimal number of registration or voting violations, and does not require additional harsh measures that will disenfranchise many thousands of Ohioans.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF PHOTO ID REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING

a. Massive selective disenfranchisement of legitimate voters. First, from Ohio Census data and a detailed study from the University of Wisconsin[15], we estimate that 738,436 adult Ohioans have neither driver’s license or state ID. Of these, 350,531 are 65 years or older. Many of these citizens with neither form of photo ID will show up at the polls with no other identification, and half of them will be over 65. For instance, if only 5% of these adults failed to bring their other identification with them, we would turn back nearly 37,000 legitimate voters (half of them elderly), forcing them to go back and return with their identification or vote provisional ballots which have a risk of rejection for trivial reasons.

Second, from the University of Wisconsin study (from which Table 1 was formulated) we know that four classes of citizens stand out because they are substantially less likely to have licenses or state ID: they include the elderly (23% don’t have photo IDs); youth 18-24 including college students with non-local ID’s, African Americans and Hispanics (about 50% don’t have photoID, and the percentage is still higher in young adults). The homeless should also be included as likely to face disenfranchisement.

Table 1

Populations without driver’s licenses    (University of Wisconsin study)
	All adults		Adults 18-24 years old
	Male %	Female %	Male%	Female %
White	17	17	36	25
African American	55	49	78	66
Hispanic	46	59	57	63

Finally, many of those who move more frequently will not have current photo ID addresses. We know from US census data, that moving is 6 times more frequent in young adults than older adults, twice as frequent in those with low than high incomes, and 50% more frequent in minorities than non-minorities. In other words, the new ID requirement in HB3 will doubly tend to disenfranchise voters who are young, poor, or minority – first because they are less likely to have a photo ID and secondly because, if they do, it is less likely to be current because they have recently moved.

b. It will create long lines at general elections. In Ohio’s 2004 elections, 2-3% of voters (about 129,000 votes, almost equally Republican and Democrat) gave up and did not vote because of long lines[16]. If the new law compels poll workers to check everyone’s ID and issue far more provisional ballots, on top of anticipated problems with new electronic recording machines coming into use in 2006, this new requirement is a recipe for ensuring that long lines will happen again and will effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters.

c. It puts undue pressure on provisional ballots. If a fully registered voter is forced to vote a provisional ballot, that person is more subject to rejection of their vote because of errors in filling out the form or clerical errors in establishing voter legitimacy. In addition, the increased costs of handling these thousands of extra provisional ballots represent an unfunded mandate from the state legislature.

CONSEQUENCES OF OHIO NOT ENFORCING FEDERAL NVRA RULES FOR VOTER REGISTRATION BY PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AGENCIES:

The National Voter Registration Act (“motor voter act”) (1993) requires that states ensure that public assistance agencies register voters in the same manner as Bureaus of Motor Vehicles[17].

Percent of all Ohio’s voter applications (Registrations/Change of Address, Nov. 2002-Nov. 2004) submitted by Ohio public assistance agencies[18]…………………………………1.4%

National average (39 states) of percent of statewide applications submitted by public assistance agencies¹⁹…………………………………2.9%

Percent of applications from Public Assistance Agencies in Tennessee after state was placed under court order to enforce NVRA¹⁹…………………………………16.1%

Additional voters that would be registered or submit change of address forms annually if Ohio enforced NVRA public assistance mandate as well as Tennessee[19]…………………………………up to 180,000