Voters who move from one county to another within the same state have their old voter registration eliminated when county boards update registration lists.
But that does not happen for people who move from one state to another or own property in more than one state.
Gina Thompson of Kettering was one of thousands of people who flocked to the Montgomery County Board of Elections office to vote early. She marveled at the turnout and the simplicity of the system.
"One person, one vote. That's the way it should be," Thompson said.
But Thompson was concerned when she learned how simple it might be for someone to obtain more than one ballot.
A cross-match of computerized voter registration lists from Ohio, Florida and Georgia found 112,148 people are registered in more than one state.
Aaron Bashore of Middletown said he voted locally and received an absentee ballot by mail from Georgia, where he also owns property. Bashore said he threw the absentee ballot away.
"You could have potentially, if we had worked it, we could have voted in many places, many times, probably," Bashore said.
Lauren Arnone of Cincinnati received an absentee ballot from her home state of Georgia but had not opened it. She voted in Ohio after an elections official in Georgia told her by telephone that if she registered here, her registration there would be canceled. That advice was inaccurate.
The computer cross match of the three states turned up evidence of at least three people in Georgia and Florida voting twice. Authorities there pledged to investigate.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said voter fraud is rare but the system does present problems when registration lists are not cross matched between states.
Brunner had discussed cross-matching for the past year with states surrounding Ohio, but had not been able to come to an agreement with those states.
It leaves open the possibility that, whether on purpose or by accident, some people could obtain two ballots.
"There are some people who own properties in both states who think they are entitled to vote in both states because they own property in both states. The law does not work that way in any state in the country. It is where you reside," Brunner said.
Brunner said she plans to pursue cross-matching voter registration lists on a regional basis after the current election.
jim.otte@whiotv.com