EAdIElection Administration Index
How professionally and independently is election administration codified?
Dimensions
Accountability
0.0% · 0/2| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI.1Conflict-of-interest disclosureAre commissioners and senior election staff required by statute to disclose financial interests (vendor relationships, party positions, candidate connections) publicly? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3517.16 governs filing of complaints with the SoS regarding campaign-finance violations; does not codify financial-interest disclosure by commissioners or senior election staff. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COI.2Judicial review of administrative decisionsIs the right to seek judicial review of election-authority decisions codified, with standing, timeline, and venue defined? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3521.03 codifies special-election procedure for filling U.S. House vacancies; not a general judicial-review provision. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Commission
40.0% · 2/5| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMM.1Statutory grounding of commissionIs the election commission's existence and core mandate set in the constitution (rather than statute alone, regulation, or executive order)? | 1/250.0% | ORC 3517.14 creates the Ohio Election Integrity Commission in statute — 5 members, fixed terms, statutory composition. Grounding is statutory, not constitutional. “There is in the office of the secretary of state the Ohio election integrity commission, consisting of the following five members” | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.2Multi-branch appointmentAre commission members appointed by multiple branches (legislature, judiciary, executive) such that no single branch unilaterally controls composition? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3521.02 governs filling vacancies in the U.S. Senate; not election-commission appointment. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.3Term protectionAre commissioner terms defined in statute with fixed length, staggered cycles, and statutory grounds for removal? | 1/1100.0% | ORC 3505.061 codifies four-year staggered terms for Ohio Ballot Board appointed members. Reinforces statutory term-protection pattern. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.4Political-balance requirementIs the commission's composition required by statute to be politically balanced (party-balanced, supermajority-confirmation, or independent appointment by judiciary)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3505.08 governs ballot paper specifications; not commission party balance. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Funding
0.0% · 0/4| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FUND.1Independent funding lineIs the election authority's budget a separate statutory line item (not subject to mid-cycle reallocation by the executive branch alone)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3517.121 prohibits foreign-national campaign contributions; not election-authority budget. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| FUND.2Multi-year funding cycleAre election infrastructure budgets set on a multi-year cycle (avoiding annual political renegotiation of election-administration money)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3501.17 codifies that BOE expenses are paid from the county treasury 'in pursuance of appropriations by the board of county commissioners' — annual county appropriations, not multi-year statutory budget cycle. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| FUND.3Foreign funding prohibitionIs foreign-source funding of the election authority (and election administration vendors, where applicable) prohibited by statute? | 0/20.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3517.13 governs campaign-statement filing duties; not foreign-funding ban on the election authority. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Staff Training
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAFF.1Career professional staffIs the election authority's career staff (professional employees, not political appointees) protected by civil-service or analogous merit-based statute? | 0/10.0% | No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute. | no FTS match 2026-05-12 |
| STAFF.2Mandatory trainingIs training for election officials and poll workers required by statute, with content and frequency defined? | 1/1100.0% | ORC 3501.27(A) mandates that all precinct election officials complete a program of instruction; (B) requires each board to use SoS-prescribed training materials and reinstruct officials at least every three years (voting location managers before each even-year primary). Statutory content + frequency. “shall complete a program of instruction pursuant to division (B) of this section” | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| STAFF.3Whistleblower protectionAre election-related whistleblower protections (for staff reporting irregularities) codified in statute? | 0/10.0% | No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute. | no FTS match 2026-05-12 |
Vendor Oversight
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERT.1Certification process codifiedIs the voting-equipment certification process (criteria, evaluators, timeline, public-comment period) codified in statute or regulation? | 1/1100.0% | ORC 3506.05 codifies the voting-equipment certification regime: SoS appoints a Board of Voting Systems Examiners; all voting machines, marking devices, tabulating equipment, software, electronic pollbooks, and voter registration systems require SoS certification before purchase, lease, or use. Evaluators + scope defined. “have been certified by the secretary of state” | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| CERT.2Recertification triggersAre recertification triggers (after material updates, after defects discovered, on a fixed schedule) codified? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3503.10 governs voter-registration program responsibilities for designated agencies; unrelated to equipment recertification triggers. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| CERT.3Decertification grounds & procedureAre the grounds for revoking certification, and the procedure for doing so, defined in statute? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: ORC 3501.27 governs revocation of an election officer's certificate of appointment ('may be revoked at any time by the board for good and sufficient reasons') — about precinct officials, not equipment decertification. | § view source 2026-05-12 |