Six non-citizens legally in the United States were recently indicted by a grand jury for allegedly voting illegally in Ohio over the past 10 years.
In a Tuesday press release, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that six non-citizens had been indicted “for illegal voting in past elections,” which is a fourth-degree felony in the state of Ohio.
“The right to vote is sacred,” Yost stated. “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.”
The six non-citizens who were indicted for illegally voting in U.S. elections include 32-year-old Nicholas Fontaine, 35-year-old Ahmed Aden, 53-year-old Van Thuy Cooper, 62-year-old Maria Dearaujo, 68-year-old Ramesh Patel, and 78-year-old Lorinda Miller. While the six non-citizens voted illegally in U.S. elections, including the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections, all six of the individuals were legally living in the United States.
Expressing confidence in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, Yost said, “Irregularities like this are rare, and this is a small number of cases. We should all be confident in the upcoming election, knowing that the laws are being enforced and will continue to be enforced.”
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According to The Washington Examiner, Yost told reporters that the recent indictments against the six non-citizens who voted in U.S. elections came as part of almost 600 voting-related cases that Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, referred to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in August.
Yost explained that while he has jurisdiction to investigate and potentially prosecute 138 of the roughly 600 voting-related cases referred by LaRose due to the cases pertaining to people allegedly voting, his office does not have jurisdiction over the other cases since they pertain only to registering to vote, according to The Washington Examiner.
Emphasizing the state’s commitment to enforcing U.S. voting laws, Yost said, “This law is being enforced, and I think this should enable everybody to take a deep breath and be more confident that our elections are, in fact, safe and secure and that noncitizens are not going to vote. And if that would happen, the few that slip through the cracks will be held accountable.”
