Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has referred nearly 600 noncitizens who registered to vote to Attorney General Dave Yost for possible prosecution. Of those 597 individuals, LaRose identified 138 who allegedly cast ballots in Ohio elections, despite federal records showing they were not U.S. citizens.
“I am duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country do not vote in our elections,” LaRose stated. “The law requires me to refer these individuals to the attorney general, and that’s what we’re doing today.”
Earlier this year, LaRose initiated a comprehensive audit of Ohio’s voter system, cross-referencing records from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, and federal jury pool data to verify citizenship. The ongoing investigation may lead to additional removals before the November general election.
Ohioans have until October 7 to register to vote. In 2022, Ohio passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, ending practices like the one adopted by the village of Yellow Springs in 2019.
In addition to the referrals, LaRose recently forwarded evidence of suspected election law violations to 20 county prosecutors. The counties involved include Butler, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Summit, and others.
LaRose also oversaw the removal of nearly 160,000 inactive voters from Ohio’s voter rolls this year. Under Ohio law, voters who do not participate in elections for four consecutive years and fail to confirm their registration can be removed from the rolls.
