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Online voter registration goes live in Ohio

Posted at 8:31 AM, Jan 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-02 14:19:00-05

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the first media announcement of the New Year, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that the state’s new online voter registration system went live at midnight on Jan. 1.

“Raise a glass of champagne, offer a toast, get online and register to vote,” Secretary Husted said.

Ohioans wishing to register to vote or update their registration can visit MyOhioVote.com/VoterRegistration to get started.

At Husted’s request, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 63, which authorizes the use of online voter registration in Ohio. Husted's office has said other states save between 50 cents and $2.34 per registration, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“Online voter registration is more convenient, more secure, more accurate and less costly than the paper voter registration alone and I am proud that we will finally be able to provide this service to Ohio voters,” Husted said, noting that Ohio could have saved between between $3.7 million and $17.3 million from 2011 to 2016.

Husted said the online system will immediately check a voter’s eligibility prior to accepting the registration. With an automated system, the risk of human error is also significantly reduced, he said.