Ohio’s crackdown on illegal voting has led to indictments against six people.
“The right to vote is sacred,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said on his website.
“If you’re not a U.S. citizen, it’s illegal to vote — whether you thought you were allowed to or not — you will be held accountable,” Yost said.
In the six cases, alleged illegal voting took place as far back as 2008 and extended through 2020.
Most of those charged were legal permanent residents who were not U.S. citizens at the time that are alleged to have voted illegally.
In Ohio, illegal voting is a fourth-degree felony.
“Irregularities like this are rare, and this is a small number of cases,” Yost said. “We should all be confident in the upcoming election, knowing that the laws are being enforced and will continue to be enforced.”
Yost said intent is not a factor when it comes to illegal voting.
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“Think about a speeding ticket,” Yost said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
“You are stopped for going 52 miles an hour. You thought it was a 50 mile an hour zone. Cop tells you it’s 35. Doesn’t make any difference that you didn’t intend to speed, that you didn’t know that you were speeding, or even that you were reckless or negligent about it — you’re just liable, and ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
Overall, Yost’s office is investigating 138 allegations of improper voting referred to the attorney general by the office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, according to the Dayton Daily News.
Yost said that he does not plan to seek prison terms for those indicted if they are convicted.
“This is a matter of holding them accountable for a violation of the law, but I don’t anticipate prison time,” Yost said.
“The way I look at it, [in] these cases none of them have the factors making the offense more serious and justifying a prison term. And most of the factors making it less likely for a prison term do exist,” he said.
In September, LaRose said his Election Integrity Unit warned all county Boards of Elections to be vigilant about registrations, according to WKBN-TV.
LaRose said an investigation took place into an illegal voter registration form that had been translated into Haitian Creole.
The Clark County Board of Elections rejected the form and reported it to the state.
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