Editor’s Note: This article was updated to clarify how the Ohio Secretary of State Office would draw data to combat election fraud. (Feb. 24, 2023)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Ohio state Senator Theresa Gavarone introduced Senate Bill 71, a new election-reform  bill that goes hand-in-hand with House Bill 458, which was signed into law nearly a month ago. 

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Bill 71, also known as "The Data Act," was introduced this week by Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R) Bowling Green. 

  • "The Data Act" goes hand-in-hand with HB 458 

  • LaRose told media outlets that under this senate bill his office would be able to draw the data out and send it directly to the Secretary of State's Office. 

The election reform law is called “The Data Act," and the idea is to pull data from the County Board of Elections to make election cycles more clear-cut. Larose issued the directive this, week saying it would help with transparency in the election cycle. He said this bill would take away the headache from counties during ballot cycles on how they report to the Secretary of State's office.

LaRose said that under this Senate bill his office would be able to draw the data out and send it directly to the Secretary of State's Office. Gavarone and LaRose said it could get rid of any election fraud, and give voters confidence that a better election system in place.

Gavarone told media outlets in a press conference that this would create less confusion with ballots and standard definitions of all terms which are election-related. She said this way Ohioans will continue to be on the same page.

"We got this process started a little early by House Bill 458 by requesting data that has never been required to be given to the public," Gavarone (R) Bowling Green said. "For instance, when the secretary of state's office requests funding to send out absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters, they're going to provide data that includes the number of applications mailed, the number of those that were returned as undeliverable, the number of applications that were completed and returned, and the number of absentee ballots cast by mail."

LaRose said that under this senate bill his office would be able to draw the data out and send it directly to the Secretary of State's Office. Gavarone and LaRose say it could get rid of any election fraud, and give voters confidence that a better election system in place.

"Very simply, four bullet points codifies standard definitions for key election data," LaRose said. "Codifying those standard definitions for key election data is important so that post-election results can actually be analyzed. And you can do that apples-to-apples comparison that you want to do. The second thing creates within the secretary of state's office an office of data analytics and archives, which will serve as that clearinghouse for retention and review. This is that transparency piece. There is nothing to hide at a board of elections and in elections administration. Generally, it all is an open book. And this new subset within our office will make sure that that data is available for any Ohioan, any American, any journalist, anybody that wants to look at that and analyze it. Third, publish standardized data and results online." 

Some groups in the community are on edge with the new election reforms put forth, including Nazek Hapasha, Policy Affairs Manager of The League of Women Voters. She said this directive could potentially lead to an unfair system.

"This law is not fair because it is disadvantaging so many different groups of voters just by the strict voter I.D. laws that have been put into place. It disadvantages students," Hapasha said. "It disadvantages military voters, it disadvantages senior citizens. It disadvantages voters who are confined in one way or another, like in senior citizen homes or eligible voters who are imprisoned awaiting trial. And so even if you think about, OK, like this is fair because we're sharing data all across the state in a better way or it's still not fair because voters are now at a huge disadvantage."

LaRose says this directive is unrelated to the speed of counting absentee ballots. Other changes under House bill 458 that ae directly related to The Data Act are extending voter hours the week before election day and extending the absentee ballot request deadline.

House Bill 458 would also remove the Monday before election day from early voting.