The state of Ohio has announced charges against six people accused of voting illegally as non-citizens in several elections, Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced Tuesday.
Ramesh Patel, Lorinda Miller, Nicholas Fontaine, Ahmed Aden, Van Thuy Cooper, and Maria Dearaujo could all face up to 18 months in prison if convicted, according to the Daily Wire.
The defendants appeared to be residing in the country legally but were not U.S. citizens when they cast votes in elections spanning from 2008 to 2020, Yost said in a list of indictments:
Ramesh Patel, 68, of North Royalton, was indicted in Cuyahoga County on one count of illegal voting. Patel lacked U.S. citizenship when he allegedly voted in 2014, 2016, and 2018. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 1:
Lorinda Miller, 78, of Hudson, was indicted in Summit County on two counts of illegal voting. Miller is a legal permanent resident but lacked U.S. citizenship when she allegedly voted in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Nicholas Fontaine, 32, of Kent, was indicted in Portage County on one count of illegal voting. Fontaine is a legal permanent resident but lacked U.S. citizenship when he allegedly voted in 2016 and 2018. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. on Dec. 2.
Ahmed Aden, 35, of Columbus, was indicted in Franklin County on one count of illegal voting. Aden is a legal permanent resident but lacked U.S. citizenship when he allegedly voted in 2008 and 2020.
Van Thuy Cooper, 53, of Hilliard, was indicted in Franklin County on one count of illegal voting. Cooper is a legal permanent resident but lacked U.S. citizenship when she allegedly voted in 2016 and 2020.
Maria Dearaujo, 62, of Columbus, was indicted in Franklin County on one count of illegal voting. Dearaujo is a lawful resident but lacked U.S. citizenship when she allegedly voted in 2016 and 2018.
Illegally voting is a fourth-degree felony. While it is unclear if the defendants voted believing they were allowed to, the attorney general said their actions were still criminal.
“The right to vote is sacred,” Yost said. “If you’re not a U.S. citizen, it’s illegal to vote – whether you thought you were allowed to or not – you will be held accountable.”
He continued on to ensure security in the upcoming November 5 election.
“Irregularities like this are rare, and this is a small number of cases,” Yost added. “We should all be confident in the upcoming election, knowing that the laws are being enforced and will continue to be enforced.”
Ohio purged nearly 500 noncitizen registrations from voter rolls in early August, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
“I want to give these folks the benefit of the doubt and say that most of them didn’t intend to break the law,” LaRose said in a statement at the time. “We want to make sure a mistaken registration doesn’t become an illegal vote. We also want to make sure that lawfully registered citizens can participate seamlessly in the process, especially if their citizenship status changed recently.”
