Section 3503.15 | Statewide voter registration database.

• Effective: October 3, 2023
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly

(A) The secretary of state shall establish and maintain a statewide voter registration database that shall be administered by the office of data analytics and archives in the office of the secretary of state and made continuously available to each board of elections and to other agencies as authorized by law.

The statewide voter registration database shall be the official list of registered electors for all elections conducted in this state.

(B) The statewide voter registration database shall, at a minimum, include all of the following:

(1) An electronic network that connects all board of elections offices with the office of the secretary of state and with the offices of all other boards of elections;

(2) A computer program that harmonizes the records contained in the database with records maintained by each board of elections;

(3) An interactive computer program that allows access to the records contained in the database by each board of elections and by any persons authorized by the secretary of state to add, delete, modify, or print database records, and to conduct updates of the database;

(4) A search program capable of verifying registered electors and their registration information by name, driver's license or state identification card number, birth date, social security number, or current address;

(5) Safeguards and components to ensure that the integrity, security, and confidentiality of the voter registration information is maintained;

(6) Methods to retain canceled voter registration records for not less than five years after they are canceled and to record the reason for their cancellation.

(C) For each registered elector, the statewide voter registration database shall include all of the following information:

(1) The elector's name;

(2) The elector's birth date;

(3) The elector's current residence address;

(4) The elector's precinct number;

(5) The elector's Ohio driver's license or state identification card number, if available;

(6) The last four digits of the elector's social security number, if available;

(7) The elector's telephone number, if available;

(8) The elector's electronic mail address, if available;

(9)(a) The elector's voter registration date, which shall be determined based on the elector's most recent application to register to vote in this state, subject to division (C)(9)(b) of this section, as follows:

(i) In the case of an application delivered in person to a state or local office of a designated agency, the office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of motor vehicles, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, or the office of a county treasurer, the date stamped on the application upon receipt by the entity that transmits the application to the board of elections or the secretary of state;

(ii) In the case of an application delivered in person to a board of elections or the secretary of state, the date stamped on the application upon receipt by the board of elections or the secretary of state, as applicable;

(iii) In the case of an application delivered by mail to a board of elections or the secretary of state, the date the application is postmarked;

(iv) In the case of an application submitted through the online voter registration system established under section 3503.20 of the Revised Code, the date of the online submission;

(v) In the case of an application submitted to a board of elections by facsimile transmission or electronic mail under Chapter 3511. of the Revised Code, the date of the receipt of the transmission or electronic mail by the board of elections;

(vi) In the case of a provisional ballot affirmation that serves as an application to register to vote in future elections because the individual who cast the ballot is not registered to vote, the date the board of elections determines that the provisional ballot is invalid under section 3505.183 of the Revised Code.

(b) For purposes of determining an elector's voter registration date under division (C)(9)(a) of this section, all of the following apply:

(i) An elector's voter registration date shall not be during the period beginning on the day after the close of voter registration before an election and ending on the day of the election. If the date determined under division (C)(9)(a) of this section would be during that period, the voter registration date instead shall be the date on which the board of elections processes the application to register to vote after the day of the election.

(ii) A change of address or change of name form, including a provisional ballot affirmation that serves as a change of address or change of name form, is not considered an application to register to vote.

(iii) An application to register to vote that is submitted by an individual who is already registered to vote in this state is not considered an application to register to vote.

(10) The elector's voting history, including all of the following for each election in which the elector cast a ballot that was counted:

(a) The date of the election;

(b) If the election was a primary election, the political party whose ballot the elector cast at the primary election or an indication that the elector voted only on the questions and issues appearing on the ballot at a special election held on the day of the primary election;

(c) The type of ballot the elector cast.

(11) The elector's last activity date, which shall be determined in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary of state pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(12) Any other information the secretary of state requires to be included by rule adopted pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(D) Every day during the period beginning on the forty-sixth day before an election and ending on the eighty-first day after the day of the election, a board of elections shall create a daily record of its voter registration database as of four p.m. and shall transmit the daily record to the secretary of state in a secure manner prescribed by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall archive the daily record and retain it for at least twenty-two months after the day of the election.

(E) The secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section and sections 3503.151 to 3503.153 of the Revised Code, including rules doing all of the following:

(1) Specifying the manner in which any voter registration records maintained by boards of elections in other data formats shall be converted for inclusion in the statewide voter registration database;

(2) Establishing a uniform method for entering voter registration records into the statewide voter registration database on an expedited basis, but not less than once per day, if new registration information is received, and for transmitting information securely to the secretary of state;

(3) Establishing a uniform method for purging canceled voter registration records from the statewide voter registration database in accordance with section 3503.21 of the Revised Code;

(4) Specifying the persons authorized to add, delete, modify, or print records contained in the statewide voter registration database and to make updates of that database;

(5) Establishing a process for annually auditing the information contained in the statewide voter registration database.

(F) A board of elections promptly shall purge a voter's name and voter registration information from the statewide voter registration database in accordance with the rules adopted by the secretary of state under division (E)(3) of this section after the cancellation of a voter's registration under section 3503.21 of the Revised Code.

(G) The secretary of state shall provide training in the operation of the statewide voter registration database to each board of elections and to any persons authorized by the secretary of state to add, delete, modify, or print database records, and to conduct updates of the database.

(H) A board of elections and any vendor with which it contracts to provide voter registration software or related services shall ensure that the board's voter registration system and practices comply with the requirements of this section and any rules adopted under this section.

Last updated August 31, 2023 at 3:46 PM

Available Versions of this Section

• March 20, 2014 – Senate Bill 200 - 130th General Assembly
• September 13, 2016 – Senate Bill 63 - 131st General Assembly
• April 7, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 458 - 134th General Assembly
• October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly