While some states are fighting back against U.S. Justice Department requests for access to their voter registration lists and other elections information, Ohio has begun the four-year process of ensuring voter rolls here are as clean as they can be.

Among the states that have received requests from the federal government so far, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin have simply said “no.” Officials there say they have questions about the legality of the requests and how the information will be used.

After all, state (and, really, county) elections officials are responsible for their own voter rolls, not someone in Washington, D.C. As one piece in the Ohio Capital Journal put it, “Power over voter registration lists is the power to shape the electorate.”

Surely Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, too, has questions about why the federal government is seeking voter registration information. We can only hope that when the Justice Department comes calling, he asks the same questions as Minnesota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

But the requests should only reinforce his desire to make sure such an important data set is as accurate as possible. Not for the federal government’s sake, but for Ohioans’.

But in the meantime, the Buckeye State residents must do ourselves a favor and check our voter registration — making sure every detail is accurate. If you receive one of the mailed notices, don’t ignore it.

— The Intelligencer of Wheeling, West Virginia