Ohio Investigative Unit Sounds Alarm on Illegal Registrations After Haitian Creole Form Surfaces

Frank LaRose, the Ohio Secretary of State made an astonishing announcement on Thursday. After his office’s Election Integrity Unit discovered an illegal voter registration in Haitian Creole, the Buckeye State has been warned to be vigilant.

The press release was urgent and read as follows:

After an investigation revealed the illegal use of voter registration forms, Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a warning today to Ohio’s county boards of election.

LaRose says:

This is a warning to our election officials that they should be on guard as we approach the last weeks of eligibility for voter registration in the general election of 2024. We are continuing to aggressively prosecute third-party groups, paid canvassers, and other individuals who have submitted fraudulent registration forms. We also crack down on illegal forms that were not authorized by my office by the law. These investigations continue even as we expand the enforcement of Ohio’s constitutional citizenship requirement.

Continued:

Our office’s Election Integrity Unit has recently completed an investigation into an illegal voter registration document translated into Haitian Creole. After rejecting a local application, the Clark County Board of Elections referred this form to us.

Hun Yi is the Director of Investigations at the Public Integrity Division.

The Board acknowledged that they had only received one of the unauthorized forms. However, they recognized its illegality and worked with me to find out where it came from with the assistance of a county government office. The form was mistakenly included with other forms outsourced to a translation service in a foreign tongue. The incident attracted national attention due to the large number of Haitian refugee families who have recently moved to Springfield. It also serves as a reminder to boards and designated voting registration agencies to be vigilant regarding the use of the forms they receive.

Yi said that “the entire state voter registration database will be cross-checked regularly for citizenship status, and we have implemented a citizenship check of new voter registrations” urging officials “to report to the Election Integrity Unit ….any suspicion of “an individual or group encouraging noncitizens participation in Ohio’s election.”

This disturbing revelation follows police reports in Springfield, Ohio, and other stories that have been verified about the havoc caused by Haitian immigrants there.

Gov. Mike DeWine ordered additional state troopers to secure the safety in the area.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this story.