(IntegrityTimes.com) – On Tuesday May 14, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered that non-citizens must be purged from the state’s voter rolls. The order was a response to findings by Ohio’s Public Integrity Division’s examinations data from the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). At least 137 people were found to still be listed on the voter rolls despite verifying they were not citizens. In some cases, improper voter registration can result in prosecution under Ohio state law.
LaRose has acknowledged that some of these non-citizen voting registrations may just be mistakes. However, Ohio’s process for citizenship verification for voting purposes requires confirmation at least twice. The Secretary of State’s office sent out two written notices asking for confirmation of citizenship. To remain on the voter rolls, a person would have to reply that they are a citizen. No response at all would also result in being removed by the county boards of elections.
The statement from LaRose’s office warned that there may be more non-citizens that are still registered to vote in Ohio. The data provided by the BMV often requires cross-referencing with other databases. Some of those databases are federal which could have serious implications. Some have pointed out that the 137 non-citizens registered to vote in Ohio only represent .002% of all Ohio voters. Even if these were the only people voting who are not U.S. citizens it would still be a problem. They may not be though, as examination of BMV records in 2022, 2021 and 2019 identified hundreds more potential cases of election fraud by non-citizens.
Ben Kindel, LaRose’s spokesman pointed out that many elections every year are often decided by “just a handful” of votes. In order to strengthen the integrity of Ohio elections, LaRose is asking the federal government for access to the SAVE database which federal immigration officials use to verify citizenship status. Secondly, he is requesting access to Federal district court records for people who have been disqualified from jury duty because they are not citizens. Finally, he is also petitioning the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration for access to their Citizenship-identifying records. Ohio Voter Right Coalition is working with legal citizens of Ohio to ensure they are not mistakenly purged from voter rolls.
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