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Ohio’s Elections Chief Seeks Info To Verify Non-Citizen Voters
By: Associated Press
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Update 5:49 p.m. Ohio’s elections chief says a review by his office found that 145 non-citizens were registered to vote, with 27 casting ballots in previous elections in the battleground state.
Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said Thursday that those who voted have been referred to the state’s attorney general for further investigation.
Husted told reporters at a news conference that there’s no evidence suggesting that the non-citizens’ votes impacted the outcomes of 70 recent nail-biting contests.
He said his office identified the individuals using information from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Husted says he’s asked the federal government for access to information that would allow his office to more accurately verify that those on Ohio’s voter rolls are U.S. citizens.
Ohio has about 7.7 million registered voters.
Ohio’s elections chief plans to discuss potential illegal voting activity in the perennial swing state along with his efforts to keep updated voter rolls.
Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has scheduled a Thursday afternoon press conference in Columbus. His office says he is expected to brief members of the media on voting irregularities involving non-citizens in last year’s election.
After the 2012 presidential election, Husted conducted a first-of-its-kind statewide review of reports of voter fraud and other irregularities in Ohio. It found that fraud cases were rare. County elections boards also were instructed to look for voter suppression, but found no documented cases of voters being denied ballots.
Husted has said he expects increased scrutiny in 2016, as Republicans hold their presidential nominating convention in Cleveland.