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Despite Mahoning County case, data suggests voter fraud is rare
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
Although the indictment of an Austintown man on two counts of illegal voting suggests that voter fraud does occur, data from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office undermine claims of widespread fraud.
Konstantinos Mouzos, 69, of Compass West Drive, was indicted Thursday after being accused of voting in the March 15 primary and the Nov. 6 general election last year despite not being an American citizen. Despite the indictment, the Mahoning County Board of Elections only has a record of him voting in the general election.
Illegal voting is a fifth- degree felony that can result in six to 12 months in prison.
More than 117,000 of Mahoning County’s more than 166,000 registered voters cast ballots in the 2016 election. Three raised concerns with the office of Secretary of State Jon Husted.
The secretary of state’s office conducts an annual review of the state’s voter registration database to identify noncitizens who are registered to vote. This is done by comparing the database with information provided by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Registered voters who are identified have 60 days to either cancel their voter registration or provide documentation showing they are citizens.
Tom McCabe, deputy director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, told The Vindicator that local boards are not able to determine citizenship and anyone with a valid driver’s license can register.
Mouzos had an expired green card, officials in the county prosecutor’s office said.
A green card grants an individual legal permanent residency but not citizenship, which is required to vote.
Green-card holders can lose their lawful permanent residency for committing certain crimes. In most cases, unlawful voting is considered a deportable offense under federal law.
This year, the secretary of state identified 426 noncitizens who were registered to vote, 82 of whom appear to have voted.
There were 5.6 million ballots cast in Ohio during the 2016 general election, and 202 voters have been referred to law enforcement by the secretary of state.
If all those cases resulted in convictions, that would mean three out of every 100,000 Ohioans who voted committed an infraction.
“It is rare,” said a spokeswoman for Husted. “But when it happens, we keep people accountable.”
President Donald Trump has alleged that several million noncitizens voted illegally in the 2016 general election. In May, he signed an executive order creating a commission to examine voter fraud at the national level.
Mahoning County GOP Chairman Mark Munroe said Trump’s commission is long overdue.
He praised Husted for addressing the problem in Ohio, but he said there is not an efficient mechanism to prove citizenship.
Munroe added that while detection of voter fraud is rare, without complete lists of noncitizens, it can be difficult to keep them from voting.
“We do not have a good system in place to prevent them from voting, other than relying on their honesty to do the right thing and not vote,” Munroe said.
The secretary of state’s office said they compare voter rolls with BMV data because the BMV requires applicants to provide documents showing they are citizens or otherwise here legally.
However, Munroe said that even if voter fraud is rare, it’s worth pursuing.
“Many elections are won or lost by very small margins,” he said. “If even a small number of noncitizens are voting in our elections, outcomes can be affected.”
Mahoning County Democratic Chairman David Betras said people who break the law should be prosecuted, but Republicans shouldn’t use voter fraud as an excuse to engage in voter suppression.
He agreed with Ohio’s Republican secretary of state.
“As Secretary of State Husted says, fraud is rare,” Betras said. “I believe him, the facts back him up, and that should be the end of the discussion.”