Late in the day – in a victory for Republicans – the full Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision made last week by three of its members. The result: Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner must create computer programs to cross check all new voter registrations so that county boards of elections can doublecheck new registrants.

The Secretary of State will now have to verify new registrations by comparing information on them with data from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the Social Security Administration.

“As far as we can tell, the problem with the current system (of cross-checking) is not that it is insufficiently user-friendly, but that it is effectively useless,” wrote Judge Jeffrey Sutton, writing for the majority.

If it can happen in Ohio, it can happen here.

Sure, that’s fine. Use the driver’s license or state ID number.

As I’ve commented before, this is a job for BMV for a number of reasons.

One note on your proposal: I believe that the Feds have ruled that SSN’s cannot be used for voting ID purposes. So there will have to be some creativity in overcoming that.

Of more concern for me is fixing the absentee voting process. But that is only slightly ahead of this. I would also recommend eliminating or greatly reforming 3rd party registrations.

Voter registration needs to be a statewide concern, not a municipal or county government concern. There needs to be a central system for voter registration and you should have to appear in person before a registrar with the same kind of documentation of residence and eligibility that the BMV requires for a first-time driver’s license. (Certain exceptions being made for the elderly and shut-in, of course, but with the same stringent requirements for documentation.) The registrar should be able to key your name and social security number into the system and determine whether you’ve been registered somewhere else before, and on the basis of your sworn petition to register, delete any old registrations found in the system and create a new one.

And when you walk into the precinct to vote, the clerk should be able to pull up your record on the computer right then and there, and if you’re trying to vote fraudulently, there should be a police officer or special deputy present to write you a citation on the spot and boot you out of the building.

We don’t allow people to have two driver’s licenses, or a driver’s license and a state ID card. Why should we allow an antiquated system of voter registration that fails to drop voters from the system as soon as they move out of their precinct and re-register elsewhere?

Reform of this system has been needed for years. What we’re seeing right now is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s time to get serious about it.