Ohio Orders Removal of 499 Noncitizen Registrations from Voter Rolls

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) is taking action to remove hundreds of noncitizens from state voter rolls.

LaRose’s office made the announcement on Thursday, stating that “county boards of elections are being directed to remove an additional 499 non-citizen registrations from Ohio’s voter rolls.”

The press release said it is part of an audit of the state’s voter registration database before Americans head to the polls to cast their ballots in the November general election.

LaRose said:

I swore an oath to uphold the constitution of our state, and that document clearly states that only United States citizens can participate in Ohio elections. That means I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country aren’t voting. If or when they do become citizens, I’ll be the first one to congratulate them and welcome them to the franchise, but until then the law requires us to remove ineligible registrations to prevent illegal voting.

In 2022, voters in Ohio green-lighted a constitutional amendment clarifying that people who are in the country illegally are not allowed to vote in local and state elections, Breitbart News reported at the time.

“With more than 70 percent of precincts reporting, nearly 2.7 million Ohio voters approved the amendment,” the article said.

In a social media post on Thursday, LaRose said, “American elections are only for American citizens,” then shared the news about the removals:

His office’s press release continued:

In May, the Secretary of State’s Public Integrity Division and Office of Data Analytics and Archives initiated a review of voter records for compliance with Ohio’s constitutional citizenship requirement. Using identification records provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), the office found 136 voter registrations assigned to Ohio residents who twice confirmed their non-citizenship status to the BMV. Eighty of those individuals failed to respond to notices asking that they either confirm their citizenship status or cancel their registration, and boards are initiating the removal of those registrations.

The latest removals announced today include individuals who confirmed their non-citizen status to the BMV, and a subsequent review of the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database system has confirmed them to be non-citizens. These individuals failed to respond to notices from the Secretary of State’s office asking that they either confirm their citizenship status or cancel their registration. Any individual whose registration is removed pursuant to the Secretary’s directive can submit a provisional ballot, which will be counted upon proof of citizenship.

It is important to note that LaRose apparently has pro-amnesty and anti-gun views. Please click here to read more articles about him.

Recently, President Joe Biden seemingly vowed to block the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of American citizenship before an individual is registered to vote in federal elections, Breitbart News reported:

Instead, the Biden administration says Congress ought to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which would restore voting rights to millions of felons who are no longer serving their prison sentences. The bill would also usher in nationwide mail-in voting as well as nationwide automatic voter registration.

“Requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote is hugely popular with Americans,” it noted.