Ohio elections chief: 17 noncitizens voted in 2012

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s top election official says 17 noncitizens voted illegally in the battleground state in last year’s presidential election, and an additional 274 are registered but did not vote.

Secretary of State Jon Husted said Wednesday he was able to identify non-U.S. citizens on Ohio’s voter rolls for the first time through coordination with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

He emphasized that none of the cases involves immigrants who were in the country illegally. In one case, a noncitizen who was in the country legally had been voting in Ohio since 1993.

The results of his review will be turned over to Attorney General Mike DeWine for possible prosecution.

Husted says improved online voter registration could avert future cases, because prospective voters must provide a driver’s license number that could be checked for citizenship status.