Low fraud rates are not evidence that safeguards are unnecessary. They’re proof the safeguards are working.
Election security is not built on a single policy. It’s a layered system designed to deter misconduct, detect irregularities, and hold violators accountable. Each layer reinforces the others.
What happens in Ohio
In Ohio, voter registration records are continuously cross-checked against motor vehicle data, death records and federal databases used to verify eligibility.
We expanded cross-state data reviews to identify duplicate registrations. We hired a full-time data analytics team to audit voter rolls year-round rather than relying solely on the annual review required by law.
We created a permanent election integrity unit to investigate allegations of misconduct and reformed the state commission that enforces election law to ensure cases are handled consistently and transparently.
On Election Day, additional protections take effect. Bipartisan teams of poll workers verify identity using government-issued photo ID and process ballots in full view of observers. Voting equipment is tested publicly before and after elections.
Strict bipartisan chain-of-custody procedures govern every ballot. Afterward, counties conduct post-election audits by hand-counting paper ballots to confirm tabulation accuracy.
This is what a layered security system looks like.
Elections, planes and banks
Consider airline safety.
Air travel is safer today than at any point in history because multiple safeguards work together: screening procedures, reinforced cockpit doors, air marshals and intelligence sharing.
Since September 2001, no U.S. commercial plane has been successfully hijacked. Yet no one argues we should eliminate airport screening simply because hijackings are rare. We maintain those systems because we know they work.
The same principle applies to elections. When misconduct is prevented or detected early, it rarely becomes widespread. That’s not because no one attempts wrongdoing. It’s because the system is designed to make cheating difficult and detection likely.
Precision matters in modern elections. Last year, 53 of Ohio’s 88 counties had contests close enough to trigger automatic recounts under state law.
Thirty-two races were decided by a single vote, including 10 exact ties. Many were local contests for school board, township trustee or municipal office, positions that directly affect taxes, public safety and education.
In elections that close, one illegal ballot is not merely symbolic. It can determine who takes office. Even isolated misconduct has consequences. Yet whenever additional prevention measures are proposed, the same argument surfaces: voter fraud is rare, so further safeguards are unnecessary. That reasoning ignores cause and effect.
Banks don’t wait for rampant theft before investing in vaults, encryption and fraud detection. They invest continuously because public trust is their most valuable asset. Even a single breach can undermine confidence.
Elections are no different.
Making it harder to cheat
Public confidence, once damaged, is extraordinarily difficult to restore. The strength of our system depends not only on accurate outcomes but on the public’s trust that those outcomes are legitimate.
The goal is not to make voting harder. It’s to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. Those objectives are not mutually exclusive. In Ohio, we’ve demonstrated that both can coexist. With smart reforms, other states can achieve similar results.
Strong safeguards protect lawful voters by ensuring their ballots are not diluted by illegal ones. They protect candidates by ensuring outcomes reflect the will of eligible voters. And they protect democracy itself by reinforcing trust in the process.
As Congress debates election reforms, the evidence of cause and effect should guide the discussion.
Voter fraud remains rare not because the system is vulnerable, but because election officials work relentlessly to deter, detect and prosecute misconduct.
Prevention is not an overreaction. It is the reason the problem remains small.
Frank LaRose is Ohio’s 51st Secretary of State. The Republican is running to be Ohio auditor of state.