Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has referred 1,200 criminal cases to the United States Department of Justice for consideration of federal prosecution for various election malpractices.

“Ohio has earned its reputation as the Gold Standard, and our Election Integrity Unit continues to prove why,” said Secretary LaRose.

“We work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible voter’s voice is heard, and anyone who tries to cheat the system will face serious consequences.”

Secretary LaRose sent a letter and evidentiary materials related to 1,084 noncitizen individuals who appear to have registered to vote unlawfully in Ohio. This includes 167 noncitizens who appear to have also cast a ballot in a federal election, all of which occurred in the most recent four federal election cycles of 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. Additionally, Secretary LaRose is referring for consideration evidence of the following:

• 99 individuals who appear to have voted in two states in the same federal election,

• 16 individuals who appear to have voted twice in Ohio in the same federal election,

• 14 individuals who appear to have voted in a federal election after the date of their death,

• 4 individuals who appear to have engaged in ballot harvesting, and

• 2 individuals who appear to have registered at a residence where they were not entitled to register.

In a letter to the Department’s Criminal Division, Secretary LaRose writes, “I have made numerous criminal referrals throughout my administration, with much of the evidence related to unlawful registration and voting activity.

These cases have encountered varying degrees of adjudication from Ohio’s 88 county prosecutors. We now have an executive administration at the White House and the Department of Justice that has expressed an interest in actively reviewing and potentially prosecuting evidence of federal election crimes. Therefore, I formally refer for your consideration the materials we have gathered and submitted to local and state prosecutors, and I have included with this letter documentation and evidentiary materials regarding each of the alleged offenses.”

The Secretary’s letter credited constructive feedback from state and local prosecutors for helping his office improve the quality of evidence referred for consideration.

“To better assist the efforts of prosecutors to bring justice in these cases, the Secretary of State’s office established Ohio’s first full-time Election Integrity Unit, staffed by former law enforcement professionals with investigative backgrounds,” said Secretary LaRose.

“The office also established a stronger working relationship with the Ohio Attorney General’s statewide investigative agency, which has the authority to aid in the investigation of election crimes.”

Ohio law empowers the Secretary of State to “investigate the administration of election laws, frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and report violations of election laws to the attorney general or prosecuting attorney, or both, for prosecution.”

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