By J.D. DAVIDSON
THE CENTER SQUARE REGIONAL EDITOR
(The Center Square) — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose turned over four people to Attorney General Dave Yost and county prosecutors for potential voter fraud charges in the 2020 general election, bringing the total to 15 in the last month.
The four referred Wednesday come from partnerships with Iowa, Missouri, Nevada and Oregon, according to Mr. LaRose, who said the four people allegedly voted first in one state and then cast another ballot in Ohio.
“Ohio has a zero-tolerance policy for voter fraud,” said Mr. LaRose. “It’s one person, one vote. That’s what Ohioans expect when they cast their ballot, and it’s what we will continue to deliver. Voter fraud is exceedingly rare in Ohio because the word is out – if you try to vote twice, we will catch you.”
Mr. LaRose said state law makes the alleged second vote a criminal act. His office used data provided from other states to cross-match with voter history in Ohio.
“As a result of this review at this time, my office identified four individuals who appear to have voted in Ohio after casting a ballot in a different state in the same election,” Mr. LaRose said in a letter to Attorney General Yost.
As previously reported by The Center Square, 10 of the previous referrals were noncitizens who tried to register to vote but did not cast a ballot, and the 11th was a noncitizen who might have voted.
Mr. LaRose’s office cross-matched voter rolls in the Statewide Voter Registration Database with a list of people who submitted documentation to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles two separate times.
The state does not have a database of all noncitizens in Ohio, but BMV records when someone submits documentation saying the person is a not a citizen, Mr. LaRose said.
The 11 people under investigation each gave documentation to the BMV that said they were not citizens on at least two occasions, Mr. LaRose said. They also each received two notices at the address that they are registered to vote that asked for them to cancel their voter registration or tell the secretary of state’s office they had.
