CLEVELAND — All Voting is Local Ohio is demanding that the board of directors for Franklin, Cuyahoga, and Montgomery counties investigate National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and non-NVRA agencies due to the large number of discrepancies found in voter registration rejection rates. According to Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) data, the different means by which people registered to vote varied drastically, but the vast majority of registrations made online or in person were accepted while those registering through the DMV, mail, NVRA, and non-NVRA agencies were more likely to be rejected.
In a letter sent Wednesday, All Voting is Local State Director Kayla Griffin said over 48,000 registration forms were rejected statewide from NVRA and non-NVRA sources in 2019 and 2020, resulting in an 18% voter registration rejection rate, according to an All Voting is Local data analysis. Franklin County accounted for more than 12,000 of these rejections, Montgomery had over 9,500, and Cuyahoga rejected over 8,000.
“Voters should have confidence and security in public agencies when it comes to registering to vote,” Griffin said. “The amount of rejections calls into question the process by which trusted government agencies are registering voters. Our hope is that we can help rectify issues within government agencies so that access to the ballot is not impeded by something as simple as increased training or a process adjustment.”
Additionally, All Voting is Local Ohio requested the following information:
- A list of the voter registration approvals and rejections for all NVRA and non-NVRA agencies.
- Insights on the disparities of the number of voter registration rejections between online and in-person registrations and those registering through the DMV, mail, NVRA, and non-NVRA agencies.
- Demographic information of voters whose registrations were rejected.
- Contact information for the person(s) or department that submits voter registrations.
The full letter can be found here.