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Ohio's Top Elections Chief Wants 117 Non-Citizens Investigated for Possible Election Fraud

 Sec. of State Frank LaRose during news conference
Dan Konik
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Sec. of State Frank LaRose speaks during Monday's news conference. LaRose is asking the state's Attorney General Dave Yost to look into more than 100 people who either registered to vote or cast ballots in the 2020 election for possible illegal election activity.

Ohio’s top elections official has asked the state’s attorney general to investigate 117 people who either registered to vote in Ohio or actually cast a ballot in the 2020 election. But that’s way down from previous elections.

Sec. of State Frank LaRose says 104 people registered illegally, and 13 voted illegally. He said his office cross-matched the voter rolls in the statewide voter registration database with the BMV’s and found discrepancies on citizenship. After trying to contact them, he’s asking Ohio’s attorney general to investigate. 

“Registering to vote or voting as a non-citizen constitutes a fifth-degree felony which makes you subject to deportation so that’s one of the reasons we want to be so careful about this,” LaRose said.

If the attorney general determines the next step is prosecution, that would be up to county prosecutors. 354 cases of non-citizens registering or voting were turned over investigators after the 2018 vote, and 385 were identified in 2016.
Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.