Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose has been tasked with ensuring that only eligible citizens can register and vote in the state’s elections. In response to an investigation that found 137 voter registrations assigned to individuals who are not allowed to vote in U.S. elections, Mr. LaRose has ordered an expanded effort to purge the voter rolls of ineligible voters.
The directive issued on May 14 instructs Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections to launch a confirmation and removal process of ineligible individuals from the voter registration rolls. Mr. LaRose emphasized the importance of upholding the state constitution, which mandates that only U.S. citizens can vote in Ohio elections.
To further enhance voter roll verification, Ohio is seeking access to citizenship data from various federal sources, including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, and federal district court records.
The enhanced voter roll purge follows a review conducted by the Secretary of State’s office, which found 137 voter registrations assigned to individuals who confirmed to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles that they were not U.S. citizens. Under Ohio law, individuals must confirm their lack of citizenship to the BMV twice to be removed from the voter rolls.
Mr. LaRose acknowledged that some of these registrations may be the result of honest mistakes and emphasized the importance of correcting errors before they lead to illegal voting. The ongoing effort to verify voter rolls will target inactive registrations and ensure the accuracy of the voter database.
As part of the review process, registrations flagged as inactive and eligible for removal will be listed for public review on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website. These measures are part of a broader push to ensure election integrity and address concerns about the legitimacy of past elections. Can you please rewrite this sentence?
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