Ahead of the 2024 election, Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose directed county election boards to strike 499 non-citizens from their voter rolls on Thursday as part of his audit of the state’s voter registration roster.
The Ohio Public Integrity Division discovered that 137 Ohioans were registered to vote despite having previously verified their citizenship twice, which prompted the audit to start in May.
According to LaRose’s office, more people who have verified to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) that they are non-citizens are the subject of his most recent order.
“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. That means I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country aren’t voting. If or when they do become citizens, I’ll be the first one to congratulate them and welcome them to the franchise, but until then the law requires us to remove ineligible registrations to prevent illegal voting.” LaRose remarked.
This confirmation was also made through a review of the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database system.
The secretary of state further stated that in an effort to stop voter fraud in the approaching election, an examination into Ohio’s voter rolls is still underway.
“I want to give these folks the benefit of the doubt and say that most of them didn’t intend to break the law. We want to make sure a mistaken registration doesn’t become an illegal vote. We also want to make sure that lawfully registered citizens can participate seamlessly in the process, especially if their citizenship status changed recently.” he added.
A provisional ballot can still be submitted by those impacted by LaRose’s order, and it will be counted provided the voter can provide proof of citizenship.
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