Hundreds of noncitizens removed from voter rolls in Ohio

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose directed county election officials Thursday to remove another 499 noncitizens registered to vote from the state’s voter rolls.

The move is the latest part of a multi-phase, comprehensive audit of the state’s voter registration database ahead of the November general election.

"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,” LaRose said. “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.”

The removals come after individuals confirmed their noncitizen status with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. State officials then confirmed the status through the federal government.

LaRose said the people failed to respond to notices from his office that asked them to either confirm their status or cancel their registration. Those who were removed from the rolls can cast a provisional ballot that would be counted after proof of citizenship is offered.

“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. “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.”

A week ago, county boards completed the removal of 155,000 registered voters confirmed to be abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years. According to LaRose, many were removed due to an address change and the voter failed to cancel their previous registration.