Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is starting to remove hundreds of noncitizens from the voter rolls after an election year audit found issues with the state’s list of voters, Fox News reported.
Ohio may see more voter rolls removal before election day, officials say
The audit discovered 499 people who were registered to vote but were not U.S. citizens. The removals announced on Thursday include those who confirmed their noncitizen status to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This information was then matched with the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which also confirmed their noncitizen status.
Officials clarified that anyone who loses their registration due to Thursday’s action can still cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted once proof of citizenship is provided.
“These individuals failed to respond to notices from the Secretary of State’s office asking that they either confirm their citizenship status or cancel their registration,” LaRose’s office said in a statement.
“I swore an oath to uphold the constitution of our state, and that document clearly states that only United States citizens can participate in Ohio elections,” LaRose told Fox News Digital. “That means I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country aren’t voting.”
Ohio law requires two confirmations of noncitizen status before removal from voter rolls
Ohio law mandates that for someone to be removed from the voter rolls, they must have confirmed their noncitizen status with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles on two separate occasions. And also updated their voter registration or voted between those times.
Improper voter registration could lead to prosecution for some individuals, but LaRose noted that not all cases are criminal. His office’s Election Integrity Unit will refer cases for criminal prosecution when appropriate. “I want to give these folks the benefit of the doubt and say that most of them didn’t intend to break the law,” LaRose said.
Ohio’s audit is still ongoing, and LaRose’s office says there may be more announcements about voter roll purges as Election Day approaches. The state has also removed nearly 155,000 registrations that were confirmed to be abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years.
Previously, Ohio removed 136 noncitizens from its voter rolls in May based on an internal investigation using state data. At that time, LaRose requested federal SAVE data from President Biden’s administration, which was released and led to Thursday’s action.
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