DOWNERS GROVE, IL — The growing voter transparency website, VoteRef.com, is adding Ohio to its online voter registration database starting this week.

The addition of Ohio follows database uploads from Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. The voter files are complete, with the goal of keeping them updated moving forward.

There are two possible areas of interest for voters. First, the database shows the discrepancy between the number of voters listed as having cast ballots in 2020 and the number of votes reported in the state’s official canvass and turnout reports, including those provided by the state to the Elections Assistance Commission. VRF has gathered these lists from official state and local sources to ensure the most accurate information. The official ballots cast numbers sometimes vary between the local and state jurisdictions. Election authorities must act to ensure these numbers reconcile going forward.

In the states uploaded so far, the discrepancy has ranged from as low as 42 votes in North Carolina to tens of thousands of votes elsewhere.

In Ohio, the discrepancy is 22,425.

Second, the database allows for the crowdsourcing of potential voter fraud. Residents are encouraged to check their own voter information and their families to see if there are discrepancies between the reality of a registered voter household and what is included in the registered voter database.

VoteRef.com was created by the Voter Reference Foundation (VRF). Executive Director Gina Swoboda says that the cause of the discrepancies isn’t clear.

“In other states we’ve seen elected officials claim that the discrepancy is explained by people moving or dying between Election Day and the day we requested the voter files,” Swoboda said. “Evidence we’ve explored indicates that isn’t the case — we’re still waiting for answers across a number of states and look forward to receiving feedback from Ohio’s election officials.”

Swoboda says that the process so far has been meticulous. “This is being built as a forward-looking tool to ensure transparency and make sure voters can trust in the lists that are the very foundation of our election system,” she added.

Eventually, VRF intends to upload – and then maintain – the voter lists in all 50 states as a permanent resource for voters across the country.