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Ohio's Primary Elections System Safer Than Iowa's

The Iowa Democratic Caucus failed to produce results on Monday night due to what state party officials cited as "inconsistencies with the reports." As Ohio prepares for its primary in March, the state's top elections official was asked is what happened in Iowa could happen here. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.  

Secretary of State Frank LaRose says -- "No" -- what's happening in Iowa could not happen in Ohio. For one thing, Iowa uses the caucus system and Ohio uses the primary system with voting machines that tabulate the votes and include a paper trail.

 

LaRose also emphasized that county boards of elections have a direct and secure link to his office to report their results. Iowa was using a new mobile app.

 

"This app that has been used in Iowa is something that would have never passed the scrutiny that we have here in Ohio for the way we do election night reporting."

 

Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper says every state should move to a primary, and he points to Iowa as an example of how state parties are not designed to run elections.

 

 

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