Our system of government relies on free and fair elections. And, our system of voting relies on United States citizens voting and ONLY United States citizens.
Heading into one of the most contentious, and arguably the most important elections in the modern era, ensuring only legal voters are voting is crucial. To that end, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that he has formally referred evidence of non-citizen voter registrations to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for further review and potential prosecution.
“I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country do not vote in our elections,” said Secretary LaRose. “We’ve so far identified 597 individuals who’ve registered to vote in Ohio despite not being citizens of the United States.”
LaRose added, “The evidence includes 138 individuals who appear to have cast a ballot in an Ohio election during the time state and federal records show they lacked citizenship status. The law requires me to refer these individuals to the attorney general, and that’s what we’re doing today.”
Joe Twomey said on X, “Ohio state secretary says 100 non-US citizens voted in recent elections, begins process to prosecute! Your effort to get out the vote and get non-citizens to register and illegally vote is now under watch in several states. We don't need dead people and illegals voting!”
Secretary LaRose launched a comprehensive audit of Ohio’s voter registration database, resulting in the removal of 154,995 voter registrations confirmed to be abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years. In Ohio, if a person fails to vote for four consecutive years, fails to confirm their registration, and fails to respond to mailed notices, they can no longer vote without registering again.
Although it has always been illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, it wasn’t until 2022 that Ohio amended the state’s constitution to prohibit local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote.
Ohio law gives the Secretary of State the duty to “investigate the administration of election laws, frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and report violations of election laws to the attorney general or prosecuting attorney, or both, for prosecution.”
LaRose added new members to his Public Integrity Division with deep experience from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the United States Secret Service.
To be sure that the Ohio vote is honest and fair, LaRose created the office’s first-ever Office of Data Analytics and Archives and a Public Integrity Division. He consolidated many of the investigative functions, including campaign finance reporting, voting system certification, voter registration integrity, the investigation of election law violations, data retention and transparency, and cyber security protocols.
LaRose’s program includes crosschecks against records provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Homeland Security’s federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, the Social Security Administration, federal jury pool data, and other resources.
The Ohio General Assembly is currently considering legislation to make the Division’s Election Integrity Unit a permanent function of the office showing their long-term commitment to secure and transparent elections in Ohio.
Illegal immigration is front and center in the race for the United States Senate in the Buckeye state. Political outsider and business owner Bernie Moreno (Republican) is challenging incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown, who has been in public office since 1974.
Moreno, himself a legal migrant who came to the United States from Colombia, vowed to crack down on illegal immigration.
“I’m sick and tired of watching this country reward people who broke our laws. What does Kamala Harris want? She wants to make them citizens, right? Because of course, she wants voters. She wants more people dependent on the government,” said Moreno on a multi-city bus tour across Ohio.
"They learn the language, like I did. They assimilate, like I did. They understand the culture, like I did," concluded Moreno.