The Ohio Secretary of State’s office on Thursday referred 138 non-U.S. citizens who were on the voter rolls to the state’s attorney general for charges.
The move comes as part of a months-long audit of the state’s voter rolls by Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Fox News Digital previously reported that hundreds of foreign nationals were removed from the state’s voter rolls earlier this year.
“It is my duty to ensure that people who have not yet attained citizenship of this country are not allowed to vote in elections,” LaRose said in a statement. “To date, we have identified 597 individuals who are not U.S. citizens but have registered to vote in Ohio, as required by the Ohio Constitution.”
“The evidence includes 138 individuals who appear to have voted in Ohio elections at a time when state and federal records show they were not citizens. By law, I am required to report these individuals to the Attorney General, and that is what we are doing today,” he added.
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Ohio may pursue criminal charges against 138 foreign nationals who were found to be registered on the state’s voter rolls and to have voted in the election. (Photographer: Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Of the 597 cases among foreigners, 148 were reported in 2022, 117 in 2021 and 354 in 2019.
LaRose’s audit also purged about 155,000 voter registrations that were found to have been abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years.
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The ongoing audit relies on analysis and cross-checks with records provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Verification of Federal Alien Entitlements (SAVE) database, the Social Security Administration, federal jury pool data, and other resources.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has launched the largest voter registration audit in the state’s history.
“I have sworn an oath to uphold our state constitution, which states that only U.S. citizens may participate in Ohio elections.” LaRose said. In a statement released by Fox News Digital earlier this month, he said: “This means that it is my duty to ensure that people who are not yet citizens of this country do not vote. Once they do, I will be the first to congratulate them and welcome their right to vote, but until then, I am required by law to remove ineligible registrations to prevent illegal voting.”
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Ohio has removed 155,000 voter registrations that were found to be inactive. (Nick Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Ohio is one of several key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 election, and former President Trump has been vocal about concerns about possible voter fraud.
