Ohio is taking action to secure the integrity of elections ahead of the contentious 2024 presidential election.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is urging the Biden Administration to grant access to federal citizenship information after removing “non-citizens” from the state voter rolls.
During a review of voting registrations, LaRose announced that 137 non-citizens were registered to vote despite not being U.S. citizens.
Following the discovery, LaRose instructed all 88 of Ohio’s county boards of elections to sift through their voter rolls for illegal immigrants.
“These individuals will receive at least two written notices from the Secretary of State’s office asking them to confirm their citizenship status or cancel their registration. Failure to respond to these notices will result in removal of the registration from the voter rolls by the county boards of elections,” his office said in a statement.
LaRose said that his office will conduct an annual review of the state’s voter registration database to identify anyone who appears to be living in Ohio illegally— as well as registered to vote in elections. He said that some of the cases may lead to prosecution.
“Ohioans overwhelmingly passed an amendment to our state constitution which makes it clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in our elections,” LaRose said. “It is my duty under the law to uphold the constitution, and the legislature has explicitly tasked me with ensuring that only eligible citizens can register and vote.”
According to Ohio law, for someone to be removed from the state’s voter rolls, they must confirm they are not a U.S. citizen to the BMV on two separate occasions. They must also have updated their voter registration or voted between the two occasions.
LaRose has requested help from the Biden Administration, saying that having the databases from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, and Social Security Administration would help highlight non-citizens that may have been missed.
GOP lawmakers have advocated for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that would require states to require concrete proof voters are U.S. citizens rather than just signing a piece of paper claiming they are.
“Without the verification measures in the SAVE Act, we’re basically asking people who are already breaking the law by coming to the U.S. illegally to abide by the honor system. No way. American elections should belong to American citizens, period,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) told the Daily Mail.
