Ohio elections chief refers 27 voters to AG for investigation

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s elections chief said Thursday that he has referred 27 voters to the state’s attorney general for investigation after a review found that they cast ballots in the swing state even though they were not U.S. citizens.

The review by Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office found that an additional 118 noncitizens were registered to vote but likely did not. Those who voted did so in elections as far back as 2000 and as recently as last year.

Ohio has about 7.7 million registered voters. Noncitizens who cast ballots or register to vote could face felony charges.

“Many of them don’t know that they are breaking the law,” Husted said at a news conference. He said in most cases, “we’re not talking about nefarious intent.”

The secretary of state found no evidence suggesting that noncitizens’ votes affected the outcomes of recent contests.

Husted’s office found the voters after checking their information with records from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. He said those residing in the state must show documentation and identify themselves as noncitizens when they get a driver’s license. He has asked the federal government for access to additional information that he says would allow Ohio to more accurately verify its voters are U.S. citizens — particularly those who register using the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

“We don’t know how big the problem is,” Husted said.

Still, he told reporters, “We’re not suggesting that it’s widespread or systemic or that it has any political overtones to it at all.”

That did not stop Democrats from raising questions.

“I would like to see the secretary of state focus on the real problems in our elections instead of playing to his base with these distractions,” state Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Kent Democrat, said in a statement.