Annual Noncitizen Check Affirms Ohio’s Process is Working

September 14, 2025

Ohio has long been recognized as a national leader when it comes to administering secure, transparent, and accurate elections. That’s not just a claim—it’s a reputation we’ve earned through relentless focus, bipartisan cooperation, and a commitment to doing things the right way. But resting on our success has never been our style. In Ohio, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Election integrity isn’t just a bureaucratic buzzword. It’s the foundation of voter confidence. Voters need to know the system is fair, their voice matters, and only eligible voters are casting ballots.

That’s why, under my leadership, we created the first-ever Election Integrity Unit in the Secretary of State’s office. This unit is laser-focused on protecting Ohio’s elections from fraud, misconduct, and abuse. Whether it’s removing noncitizens from the voter rolls, identifying double voters, or investigating other violations of the criminal code, this unit has made major strides in securing our democratic process.

In July 2024, we took that effort beyond what the law requires, launching monthly audits of the voter rolls to identify and remove noncitizens. Previously, these checks were done only once a year, but that left too much room for outdated information to linger. With this new proactive process in place, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in results. Over the past year, we’ve removed more than 760 noncitizens from Ohio’s voter rolls through these monthly checks. That’s real, measurable progress toward our mission of ensuring that only American citizens vote in Ohio elections, a mandate heard loud and clear when voters approved a constitutional citizenship voting amendment in 2022.

For context, our July 2025 annual check, which is still required under Ohio law despite the monthly process, uncovered zero new noncitizen registrations. That’s not a sign of failure. It’s a sign that, after a year of hard work by our Election Integrity Unit, the new monthly audit system is working effectively and catching potential issues in real time rather than letting them pile up year after year.
But even with these tools in place, we faced some roadblocks, namely the federal government’s refusal to share key data. The Biden Administration made it incredibly difficult for states to access the information we need to identify noncitizen registrations. Their lack of transparency and stonewalling forced me to take legal action. I sued the Biden Administration to demand the federal data necessary to fulfill our obligation to Ohio voters. The American people deserve a system that prioritizes election integrity over political convenience.

That’s also why I strongly support President Trump’s Executive Order on election integrity. This directive is a critical step toward giving states the tools they need to protect their elections, especially when it comes to improving federal data tools and holding lawbreakers accountable. Where the previous administration failed, President Trump is listening to our needs, taking our input seriously, and taking action. It reinforces the same principles we’ve been fighting for here in Ohio: transparency, accuracy, and zero tolerance for election fraud.

Let me be crystal clear: even one illegal vote undermines the will of lawful voters. In Ohio, we treat every single instance of fraud with the seriousness it deserves. We don’t look the other way. We investigate, we act, and we protect the process.

Ohio may be the gold standard, but we’ll never stop pushing to do better. Because in a democracy, trust is everything. And as long as I have the honor of serving as Ohio’s 51st Secretary of State, I’ll continue fighting to ensure Ohio’s elections remain transparent, accessible, and accountable.