Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered the state's voter rolls to be purged of "non-citizens" Tuesday after a review found more than 100 Ohio residents who were registered to vote despite lacking U.S. citizenship.
An investigation by Ohio's Public Integrity Division analyzed data from the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles and found 137 people who appeared on voter rolls despite twice confirming they were not U.S. citizens. Ohio law requires that in order for a person to be removed from voter rolls, they must have confirmed their lack of citizenship to the BMV on two separate occasions, and also have updated their voter registration or voted in between the two occasions.
"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," LaRose's office told Fox News Digital in a statement.
The improper voter registration could result in prosecution for some, but LaRose cautioned that not all instances are criminal.
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"It’s important to recognize that some of these registrations may be the result of an honest mistake," LaRose said. "These may be well-meaning people trying to pursue the American dream, and communication barriers sometimes result in a registration form being submitted in error. We need to help them get that cleared up before an accidental registration becomes an illegal vote that could result in a felony conviction or even deportation."
LaRose's office says there may be more non-citizens registered to vote than the initial investigation uncovered. Much of the data provided by the BMV requires cross-referencing with other databases, some of them federal.
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To that effect, Ohio is calling on President Biden's administration to provide access to several sources of citizenship data. First is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' SAVE database, which holds troves of citizenship data for individuals entering the U.S.
LaRose's office also seeks access to citizenship information from the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security administration, as well as federal district court records disclosing individuals disqualified from jury service due to a lack of United States citizenship.
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LaRose's office hopes to hold up Ohio's elections systems as a model for other GOP-led states, given his current role as vice chairman of the Republican Secretaries of State Committee.
"With national liberal groups eyeing the ten secretary of state races on the ballot over the next two years, we need principled Republican leaders now more than ever," LaRose said when he was appointed to the RSSC role in March.
