According to recent reports, grand juries in Ohio have indicted six individuals for voting illegally. All of them lacked U.S. citizenship, a necessary prerequisite to participating in elections in America. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the announcement on the attorney general’s website, maintaining that it is a “sacred” privilege to vote and influence U.S. politics.
“The right to vote is sacred,” Yost said. “If you’re not a U.S. citizen, it’s illegal to vote – whether you thought you were allowed to or not – you will be held accountable.” Special prosecutors within Yost’s office reportedly presented seven cases to grand juries last week. Notably, Illegally voting in elections is a fourth-degree felony.
“Irregularities like this are rare, and this is a small number of cases,” Yost added. The attorney general expressed confidence that the law would be upheld as Election Day is now less than two weeks away. “We should all be confident in the upcoming election, knowing that the laws are being enforced and will continue to be enforced.”
The American Tribune recently reported on efforts in Ohio to crack down on illegal voting. The state had undergone extensive audits of its voter rolls. Earlier in the summer, it was discovered that over 100 non-U.S. citizens had voted in recent elections in Ohio. At the time, State Secretary Frank LaRose maintained that all who broke the law would be prosecuted.
“I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country do not vote in our elections. We’ve so far identified 597 individuals who’ve registered to vote in Ohio despite not being citizens of the United States, as our state constitution requires,” LaRose said. “The evidence includes 138 individuals who appear to have cast a ballot in an Ohio election during the time state and federal records show they lacked citizenship status. The law requires me to refer these individuals to the attorney general, and that’s what we’re doing today,” he continued.
Following a prior audit of the state’s voter rolls which determined that nearly 500 noncitizens were registered to vote, LaRose said, “I swore an oath to uphold the constitution of our state, and that document clearly states that only United States citizens can participate in Ohio elections.” He continued, “That means I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country aren’t voting. If or when they do become citizens, I’ll be the first one to congratulate them and welcome them to the franchise, but until then the law requires us to remove ineligible registrations to prevent illegal voting.”
“I want to give these folks the benefit of the doubt and say that most of them didn’t intend to break the law,” LaRose emphasized. However, he stood firm in stating that he must protect the integrity of his state’s elections. “We want to make sure a mistaken registration doesn’t become an illegal vote. We also want to make sure that lawfully registered citizens can participate seamlessly in the process.”
Watch House Speaker Mike Johnson outline the importance of preventing illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections below:
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