Why Can't Ohio's Election Systems Prevent Criminal Cases Like the More Than 1,200 Sent to the DOJ?

IN SOME OHIO ELECTIONS,

A CANDIDATE OR BALLOT ISSUE IS DECIDED BY A SINGLE VOTE.

YET LEGAL VOTES IN OHIO ARE BEING DILUTED BY ILLEGAL VOTES -

VOTES THAT COULD ALTER ELECTION RESULTS AND OVERTURN DULY ELECTED CANDIDATEs OR BALLOT ISSUES.

On October 28, 2025, Secretary LaRose referred more than 1,200 election related criminal cases to the U.S. Department of Justice for potential federal prosecution, including:

167 noncitizens who may have cast a ballot in recent elections

99 individuals who may have voted in two states

16 individuals who may have voted twice in the same Ohio election

14 individuals who may have voted after they died

1,084 noncitizens who may have registered to vote unlawfully in Ohio

4 individuals who may have engaged in ballot harvesting, and

2 individuals who may have registered at a at an address that was not their residency

Because Ohio laws and current Secretary of State directives do fully identify all noncitizens and other ineligible individuals who may be registering or voting in Ohio, the true number could be significantly higher. Examples include:

• Not a single Ohio voter is verified to be a U.S. citizen before being added to the voter rolls.

• Except for individuals who register through the BMV or online, identification information provided on voter registration forms is not verified before registration. Tens of thousands of voters appear on Ohio voter rolls with invalid or incorrectly entered ID information.

• Individuals may register by mail without providing verified proof of identity, then vote by mail without a copy of a photo ID - as did more than a million voters in November 2024 - raising concerns among many citizens that their lawful votes may be diluted from ballots cast by ineligible voters.

• Concerned citizens have presented evidence to county Boards of Elections showing more than 3,500 Ohio voters can still vote in Ohio despite having moved and voting in another state. These challenges were denied. Yet, the Secretary of State has since required Boards of Elections to remove other voters for the exact same reason.

• County Boards of Elections are legally required to maintain accurate voter rolls, yet lack access to the databases needed to verify that the rolls are correct.

Truth About Mail-In Voting

Ohio prioritizes convenience over election security and accuracy when it comes to no-excuse mail-in voting. If voters were fully informed about the risks that their votes may not be counted as intended, many may choose to vote in-person instead of by mail.

RISKS THAT MAIL-IN VOTES MAY NOT BE COUNTED AS INTENDED

1. Once ballots are placed in a mailbox by the Board of Elections, the chain of custody is no longer guaranteed.

2. Election officials cannot directly verify a voter’s identity in-person when ballots are mailed.

3. USPS mail delays can cause ballots to arrive after the deadline, resulting in disqualified votes.

4. Incorrect absentee ballots can be mailed, such as 50,000 to Franklin County Ohio voters in 2020.

5. Incorrect return envelopes can be mailed, such as in Montgomery County Ohio in 2024.

6. Mail-in ballots can be stolen by USPS employees and returned with forged signatures, such as occurred in the 2024 Colorado election.

7. When voters report lost ballots, replacement ballots may be issued, but if both the original and replacement are submitted, duplicate voting can occur, as seen in an Ohio 2020 election.

8. Ballots can be stolen from mailboxes and fraudulently submitted, as in the 2016 North Carolina election.

9. Ballots can be intercepted by organizers posing as helpers, altered, and submitted, as in the 2019 New Jersey election.

10. Ballots can be fraudulently requested and mailed, as in the 2023 Iowa election.

11. Ballots can be illegally duplicated and mailed, as in the 2022 New Jersey election.

12. Votes can be cast in a voter’s name without their knowledge, as in the 2024 New York election. Voters may then be told at the polls that they have already voted, effectively disenfranchising them.

13. Poll workers may override warnings about absentee ballots and allow double-voting in person, as in the 2023 Michigan election.

Dissent Against Premature Endorsements: Upholding the Rights of Ohioans

The Ohio Republican Party’s consideration of early endorsements in competitive primary races strikes at the heart of self-governance. We the People, not party elites, must retain the fundamental right to choose who represents us in Columbus. Allowing the State Central Committee to endorse candidates in a contested primary risks alienating the very base the party seeks to energize.

Political engagement thrives on open debate and competition. When a state party steps in to anoint preferred candidates—especially in competitive races—it sends a message that loyalty to insiders matters more than responsiveness to constituents. This top-down approach contradicts the principle of bottom-up representation, where elected officials are accountable first to voters, not party gatekeepers.

Limiting ballot choices too early resembles systems where only pre-approved candidates appear—an echo not of American democracy, but of closed political machines.

Let the people decide.