An audit ahead of the critical 2024 election in November has exposed major issues with Ohio’s voter rolls.
The audit found hundreds of noncitizens currently registered to vote in the state.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is now moving to purge the illegally registered foreign nationals from the voter rolls.
The audit uncovered 499 individuals who were not U.S. citizens but were registered to vote.
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.
SAVE also confirmed them to be noncitizens.
State officials had given the individuals an opportunity to remove themselves from the voter rolls but they failed to comply.
“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.
However, this ballot will only “be counted upon proof of citizenship,” LaRose confirmed.
“I swore an oath to uphold the constitution of our state,