82 non-U.S. citizens voted in recent elections, equal .0014 percent of total votes cast in November

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office has identified 82 non-U.S. citizens who have illegally voted in recent Ohio elections.

The cases have been referred to law enforcement for further investigation and possible prosecution. Letters will be sent to 303 registered voters identified as non-citizens who didn’t cast ballots, asking them to cancel their voter registrations.

Since 2013, Husted’s office has identified 821 non-citizens registered to vote in Ohio and 126 who have cast ballots. None of those ballots were case in jurisdictions where races were decided by one vote.

“In light of the national discussion about illegal voting it is important to inform our discussions with facts. The fact is voter fraud happens, it is rare and when it happens, we hold people accountable,” Husted said in a statement.

In Cuyahoga County, 61 non-citizens were illegally registered to vote and 16 cast ballots, Husted’s office found.

Husted’s office has compared state voting data with Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles records every two years since 2013. The voters flagged in the review had identified themselves as non-citizens but also registered to vote.

The registered voters flagged in the three reviews combined account for .0049 percent of the 7.8 million people on state voter rolls. The 82 votes cast amount to .0014 percent of the 5,607,641 total votes cast in November 2016.

The League of Women Voters of Ohio admonished Husted for omitting that context from his office’s release of the information.

“In the current highly-charged political environment of border walls, bans on who may enter the country, and immigration raids, it is deeply troubling that a state government office would choose to issue a statement in bold letters proclaiming unlawful activity by non-citizens,” Executive Director Carrie Davis said in a statement.

Davis said it’s unknown how many of the people flagged are actually naturalized citizens or were told they could register and acted on bad information.

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