HOW FAKE ID’s CAN UNDERMINE ELECTIONS IN OHIO

This week, the FBI turned over recently declassified documents alleging China tried to interfere in the 2020 election by sending mass produced fake drivers licenses to the US.

Could China have infiltrated Ohio's elections with fake IDs in 2020?

Since Ohio does not verify identification before voter registration, illegal fake ID voters can be added to the voter rolls. A BMV mismatch program should flag these voter records as unverified, triggering the mailing of Confirmation Notices. However, if recipients do not respond, there is nothing that stops them from voting mail-in or in-person with the same fake ID – despite provisions in the Ohio Constitution indicating they should not be permitted to vote. Once they vote, the BMV mismatch flag is removed, even though their identity was never verified against any state or federal database.

Could these same fake ID voters be permitted to vote if elections were held today?  

Yes, it is possible for voters added to Ohio voter rolls using fake IDs to vote in elections held today. While a state photo-id law was implemented in 2023 requiring a photo-id to vote in person, someone in possession of a physical fake ID could still present it at the polls. Additionally, mail-in ballots are counted using the same ID number provided at registration – meaning a fake ID number could be used to vote without further verification.

If passed, would Senate Bill 153/House Bill 233 resolve the current shortfalls in Ohio law regarding fake IDs?  

As introduced, these bills would not fully address the gaps that currently permit ineligible individuals to vote - contrary to Ohio’s Constitution.

• Existing fake ID voters: Those who previously registered using fake IDs can still vote in person or by mail. Because they were identified in a prior report, they are excluded from future BMV mismatch reporting and remain on the voter rolls, capable of voting a regular ballot without restriction.  

• New fake ID registrations: New registrations using fake IDs can still be added to Ohio voter rolls in large numbers without any verification that they exist or are eligible to vote in Ohio. Instead of verifying the ID exists on BMV records before they are added to the voter rolls, the following complex and error-prone minimum process must occur perfectly to prevent a fake ID vote from counting:   

1.  The Secretary of State must conduct the BMV mismatch program;

2.  The Secretary of State must send a report to the Board of Elections;

3.  The Board of Elections must flag the fake ID voter record for ID mismatch;

4.  The Board of Elections must mail a Confirmation Notice to the fake ID voter;  

a.  If the fake ID voter responds by submitting a copy of the same fake ID, the process must repeat;

5.  The fake ID voter record must then be updated to vote provisionally;

6.  The fake ID voter must not be permitted to receive a mail-in ballot;

7.  If the fake ID voter casts a provisional ballot;  

a.  The fake ID information must be uploaded to the Secretary of State’s office;  

b.  The Secretary of State must attempt to verify it against BMV records;  

c.   The Secretary must notify the Board of Elections that the ID does not exist on BMV records;  

d.  The Board must ensure the provisional ballot is not counted;

e.  The Board must cancel the voter registration that should never have been added in the first place.    

The entire chain of events is vulnerable to error at multiple stages. These risks – and the administrative burden could be avoided entirely if fake ID registration are not accepted onto the voter rolls,  consistent with Executive Order 14248, issued by President Trump.

Secretary of State Directive 2025-23 DOES NOT Ensure Only US Citizens Vote in Ohio

In 2022, Ohio citizens voted to amend Ohio’s Constitution to allow only US citizens to vote in Ohio. Over two years later, no state legislation or Secretary of State directive has enforced this change.  

Directive 2025-23 does not address this, as noncitizens can still vote in Ohio.   

• The same flawed election system that lets noncitizens register to vote on the ‘honor’ system without verifying US citizenship is still in place.   

• The same flawed Ohio law that allows individuals to avoid noncitizen identification by registering with the last four digits of their social security number (SSN4) is still in place. In 2024, 60,000 voters registered this way, and 38,000 of them have mismatched registration information to Social Security records. Additionally, a million registered  this way since 2011.

• The same flawed Ohio law that only selects noncitizens who self-identify as noncitizens twice at the BMV is still in place.  There are over 240,000 noncitizens with BMV records. How many of them are not selected for noncitizen reviews because they presented noncitizens documents once instead of twice?  

• The same flawed Ohio law that allows noncitizens to register without proper ID (no driver’s license, state ID or SSN4) is still in place, even though federal law requires otherwise.  

• The same flawed Ohio law that keeps noncitizens on the voter rolls by responding to a notice from the Secretary of State to ‘confirm’ their citizenship with no verification is still in place.

• The same flawed Ohio justice system that allows noncitizens who register and vote without prosecution is still in place.

• This directive allows noncitizens to reregister after being removed,  creating a potential endless cycle of  registration without verification, removal and reregistration without verification.

How can Ohio ensure ONLY US citizens are permitted to vote? 

Continuing the current process of trying to identify noncitizens is futile and will not prevent noncitizens from registering and voting in Ohio elections. A person could be a noncitizen one day, and be a legitimate citizen the next. Instead, efforts should focus on verifying that applicants and existing registrants are US citizens. Once verified as a citizen, that person should not need to be verified again.

Instead of focusing on noncitizens, Ohio state law and Secretary of State directives should concentrate on enforcing the Ohio Constitution’s mandate, which states “Only a citizen of the United States . . . has the qualifications of an elector, and is entitled to vote at all elections.” 

To comply with the mandate set by Ohio’s citizens in 2022, state legislators must enact laws ensuring that only US citizens are permitted to register and vote.  This can be achieved by verifying that only US citizens are added to Ohio voter rolls and verifying that only US citizens are voting.

ELECTORS WITH INELIGIBLE REGISTRATION DATES ARE VOTING IN OHIO ELECTIONS

Over 54,000 electors exist in Cuyahoga County with an invalid Registration Date of 1/1/1900; over 40,000 of them voted in the August 2023 election. Since voter eligibility is dependent on a valid Registration Date, it is necessary to address and correct this issue to ensure all of these electors are qualified as eligible electors, as required by federal and state law.

Many thousands of electors across Ohio voted in the November 2020 election with a Registration Date after the deadline to be eligible to vote in the November 2020 election per federal law [1]. There were around 6,000 of them in Butler County alone. By law, these voter registrations were not eligible to vote in the November 2020 election; however, all of the votes were certified. 

It was determined a flaw in the administration of voter registrations caused Registration Date to be updated when an elector moved to a new precinct in Ohio; however, there has never been any government reporting to reconcile that every vote cast with a Registration Date after the deadline to register and vote in the November 2020 election was indeed cast by eligible electors who moved, which caused the Registration Date to update.

A remedy to this Registration Date flaw was addressed in The DATA Act integrated into HB33 and signed into law in July, 2023 to address this issue when entering or updating Registration Date; however, LSC reports the deadline to implement The DATA Act provisions is JAN 1 2025, leaving the MAR 2024 and NOV 2024 elections still vulnerable to malfeasance once again due to the existing flaw in Registration Date on elector voter records, and still doesn’t address the tens of thousands of invalid Registration Dates in Cuyahoga County.

[1] NVRA 52 U.S. Code § 20507(a) In the administration of voter registration for elections for Federal office, each State shall—

   (1) ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in an election—

        (A)  in the case of registration with a motor vehicle application under section 20504 of this title, if the valid voter registration form of the applicant   

               is submitted to the appropriate State motor vehicle authority not later than the lesser of 30 days, or the period provided by State law, before

               the date of the election;

       (B)  in the case of registration by mail under section 20505 of this title, if the valid voter registration form of the applicant is postmarked not later   

              than the lesser of 30 days, or the period provided by State law, before the date of the election;

       (C)  in the case of registration at a voter registration agency, if the valid voter registration form of the applicant is accepted at the voter     

              registration agency not later than the lesser of 30 days, or the period provided by State law, before the date of the election; and

       (D)  in any other case, if the valid voter registration form of the applicant is received by the appropriate State election official not later than the

              lesser of 30 days, or the period provided by State law, before the date of the election;