State Uncovers Over 1,000 Non-Citizens “Appearing” Registered to Vote

The Frank LaRose office, serving as Ohio’s Secretary of State, announced today that it has referred approximately 1,200 criminal cases to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible federal prosecution, following investigations into alleged unlawful voting-and-registration activity within the state.

LaRose’s office reports that the bulk of the referrals — involving 1,084 individuals — relate to persons who “appear to have registered to vote unlawfully” as non-citizens in Ohio. Of those, his team says 167 non-citizens appear to have also cast ballots in federal elections spanning the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 cycles.

In addition, the referrals include other categories of alleged election irregularities:

• 99 individuals believed to have voted in two different states during the same federal election.
• 16 individuals said to have voted twice in Ohio in the same federal election.
• 14 individuals alleged to have voted in a federal election after the date of their death.
• 4 individuals accused of engaging in “ballot harvesting”.
• 2 individuals who appear to have registered at a residence where they were not entitled to vote.

LaRose characterized the push as part of Ohio’s continuing efforts to strengthen election integrity. “Ohio has earned its reputation as the Gold Standard, and our Election Integrity Unit continues to prove why,” he said. “We work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible voter’s voice is heard, and anyone who tries to cheat the system will face serious consequences.”

In a letter to the DOJ Criminal Division, LaRose pointed out that his office had made previous criminal referrals on election-law violations but that the current federal administration presents a renewed opportunity for prosecution at the federal level. “We now have an executive administration at the White House and the Department of Justice that has expressed an interest in actively reviewing and potentially prosecuting evidence of federal election crimes,” the letter reads. “Therefore, I formally refer … the materials we have gathered … and I have included … documentation and evidentiary materials regarding each of the alleged offenses.”

LaRose’s office says it established Ohio’s first full-time Election Integrity Unit, staffed with former law-enforcement professionals and focused exclusively on investigating voter-registration integrity, election-law violations, data retention, cyber-security and coordination with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office’s statewide investigative agency.

Ohio law authorizes the Secretary of State to “investigate the administration of election laws, frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and report violations … for prosecution.”

In 2022, LaRose announced the creation of a Public Integrity Division within his office, consolidating long-standing functions such as campaign finance reporting, voter-registration audits, voting-system certification and cyber-security oversight. The Ohio General Assembly recently passed legislation making the Election Integrity Unit a permanent fixture of the Secretary’s office.

LaRose’s office also notes that the Trump administration previously recognized Ohio’s efforts and collaborated to create a searchable data resource for state election officials. Earlier this year, advocacy organizations sued Ohio over a new law requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration at the BMV, claiming it violates federal law.

Ohio is widely considered one of America’s quintessential battleground states—though its political profile has shifted in recent years. Since Donald Trump’s 2016 win, however, Ohio has leaned more reliably Republican. Trump carried the state by 8 points in both 2016 and 2020, largely thanks to strong support from white working-class voters in areas that once backed Democrats, like the Mahoning Valley and southeastern coal regions.