Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose is moving to purge hundreds of noncitizens currently registered to vote ahead of the November election.
The audit uncovered 499 individuals who were registered to vote but were not U.S. citizens, according to Fox News. The removals announced Thursday include individuals who confirmed their noncitizen status to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. That data was then paired with the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which also confirmed them to be noncitizens.
“These individuals failed to respond to notices from the Secretary of State's office asking that they either confirm their citizenship status or cancel their registration,” LaRose's office said in a statement.
Officials clarified that any individual losing their registration as a result of Thursday's action may submit a provisional ballot, which “will be counted upon proof of citizenship.”
“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,” LaRose told Fox News Digital in a statement. “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.”
Ohio's audit remains an ongoing process, and LaRose's office says it may announce more voter roll purges as Election Day nears. The state has also removed nearly 155,000 registrations confirmed to be abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years.
“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,” LaRose said.
Ohio has overcome a series of hurdles this election cycle. Before ultimately dropping out of the race Joe Biden faced an uncertain path to gain ballot access in the state due to a conflict with state law.
“I've said from here to Colorado that it's in the best interest of voters to have a choice in the race for president. I'm also duty-bound to follow the law as Ohio's chief elections officer,” LaRose said in a statement Tuesday.
“As it stands today, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee will not be on the Ohio ballot. That is not my choice. It's due to a conflict in the law created by the party, and the party has so far offered no legally acceptable remedy,” he continued.
“The Ohio House speaker said today there won't be a legislative solution, so I've sent a letter to Ohio Democrats' chair seeking (again) a solution that upholds the law and respects the voters. I trust they'll act quickly,” he finished.
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As should all states !