How do Ohio Election Officials 'Determine' a Person Casting a Provisional Ballot is a US Citizen as Required by Ohio Law?

When casting a provisional ballot, Help America Vote Act of 2002 states: "If the appropriate state or local election official to whom the ballot or voter information is transmitted under paragraph (3) determines that the individual is eligible under State law to vote, the individual’s provisional ballot shall be counted as a vote in that election in accordance with State law."

Is US citizenship an eligibility requirement under Ohio's constitution AND state law to vote? YES 

Under current Ohio law and SOS directives, is it possible for non-citizens to register to vote in Ohio? YES

Under current Ohio law and SOS directives, is it possible for non-citizens to cast a provisional ballot? YES

Does an appropriate state or local election official VERIFY the individual is ELIGIBLE under State law to vote? NOT IF US CITIZENSHIP IS NOT VERIFIED. 

How then, can a state or local election official DETERMINE the individual is ELIGIBLE under State law to vote? THEY CAN'T.

Are the provisional ballots in Ohio counted as a vote in accordance with State law? NO.

The Lack of US Citizenship Verification is in Noncompliance with Federal and State Laws and the Ohio Constitution.

HAVA 52 U.S. Code § 21082 federal law requires county Boards of Elections (BOEs) to provide prompt verification of persons who cast a Provisional Ballot by affirmation to ensure they are eligible to vote when they show up at the polls and their names aren’t on the poll books.

County Boards of Elections do not have the capability to verify citizenship. It is believed the SOS does not provide citizenship verification of these Provisional Ballots for 88 county Boards of Elections.

County Boards of Elections, and the Secretary of State, as the chief Ohio election official, are not in compliance to federal and state laws when they approve these Provisional Ballots to be counted, since they have not provided verification of US citizenship eligibility.

If . . .

1. Provisional Ballots in which a person ‘affirms’ they are eligible to vote are

required to be verified for eligibility to vote, and . . .

2. one of the qualifications to be eligible to vote is US citizenship, and . . .

3. county Boards of Elections must promptly verify US citizenship, and . . .

4. since it is a fact that not all voter registrations on Ohio Voter rolls are verified

to be US citizens, and . . .

5. even though electors in the past ‘affirmed’ on their voter registration

application they were US citizens, but were later identified to be not US

citizens . . .

. . . shouldn’t ALL PROVISIONAL BALLOTS be promptly verified to be US

citizens BEFORE THEIR VOTES CAN BE COUNTED until such time as Ohio

Voter Rolls contain only US citizens?

. . . shouldn’t ALL BALLOTS, not just Provisional, be promptly verified to be US

citizens BEFORE THEIR VOTES CAN BE COUNTED until such time as Ohio Voter

Rolls contain only US citizens?

Applicants are added to Ohio Voter Rolls BEFORE they are VERIFIED as ELIGIBLE to Vote in Ohio

When applying to register to vote in-person at the BMV,

• the applicant's driver license/state id (DL/ID) number, name, address and birth date are already verified by the BMV. This information is pre-filled on the voter registration application.

• An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• There is no verification t

• gh the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has records to identify non-citizens. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote online,

• the applicant’s DL/ID number and SSN4, name and birth date are required to be entered and matched to BMV records.

• There is no verification the person registering to vote online is the actual person in which voter registration information is entered. It could be another person or a computer bot in an identity theft scheme.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at a designated agency that provides services for persons in need, the designated agency may prefill some identification information on on the voter registration application.

•  An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records at the designated agency, although a designated agency may have such information.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform a non-citizen verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at the county BOE,

•  An in-person application assures a real person is associated to the voter registration application.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

When applying to register to vote in-person at the SOS,  

• It is unknown if the applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date is verified to match BMV or SSA records by the SOS before forwarding the voter registration application to the appropriate county BOE to add to Ohio Voter Rolls.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

When applying to register to vote by-mail,

• there is no verification the person registering to vote by-mail is the actual person or computer bot in an identity theft scheme.

• The applicant's DL/ID number or SSN4, name and birth date IS NOT VERIFIED to match BMV or SSA records by the county BOE before county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls. County BOEs do not have the tools to perform such verification.

• There is no verification the person is a US citizen before the county BOE adds the applicant to Ohio Voter Rolls; county BOEs do not have the tools to perform such a verification.

Within minutes or hours of an applicant being added to Ohio Voter Rolls, the now elector's DL/ID or SSN4, name and birth date are verified by the SOS to match BMV and SSA records.

Why isn't this verification completed BEFORE the person is added to Ohio Voter Rolls to assure only eligible electors are added to Ohio Voter Rolls?

If the verifications return a non-match, a flag is placed on the voter record and a Notice is sent to the elector asking the elector to correct or confirm their voter record information.

• If the Notice is returned correcting the non-match information, the BOE removes the flag on the voter record and makes the correction to the voter record (it is possible the new information is not verified during this process as county BOEs do not have the tools to verify this information.

• If the Notice is returned confirming the non-match information, county BOEs are instructed to remove the flag on the voter record and the elector can now vote in all Ohio elections - WITHOUT further investigation of the mismatch identification information.

• If the Notice is not returned, the elector remains on Ohio Voter Rolls with a flag. Voter records that are flagged are supposed to only vote a Provisional Ballot; however, data exists that indicates this may not always happen. Only if the elector does not vote for 4-6 years will the elector be removed from Ohio Voter Rolls.

US Citizenship is verified on a very limited group of electors on Ohio Voter Rolls once a year.

• It is possible for non-citizens to be active electors on Ohio Voter Rolls for up to a year and capable of voting in all Ohio elections before the annual review identifies the elector as a non-citizen.

• Once identified, a Notice is sent to the elector asking the elector to self-cancel their voter registration or provide records to prove they are a US citizen.

• If the elector does not respond to the Notice, the matter is turned over to the Attorney General.

• Refer to ohio4truth.com Election Blog - US Citizenship is NOT Verified Before Applicants are added to Ohio Voter Rolls; Some Electors on Ohio Voter Rolls are NEVER Verified to be US Citizens for more information.

Once a voter record is added to Ohio Voter Rolls, even if the person was never eligible to register to vote, it is very difficult to remove such voter record in a timely manner.

References:

NVRA: 52 U.S. Code § 20504, 52 U.S. Code § 20505, 52 U.S. Code § 20507

HAVA: 52 U.S. Code § 21083

Ohio Election Manual: Directive 2023-24 (Chapter 4)

Secretary of State and County Boards of Elections election officials consultation

All information stated herein is believed to be correct but is not guaranteed