A first-of-its-kind statewide review found instances of voter fraud in Ohio during last year’s presidential election but not rampant abuses, the elections chief in the battleground state said Thursday. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said the investigation he ordered in January by Ohio’s 88 county election boards resulted in 135 substantiated cases being referred to law enforcement for further investigation out of 625 reported cases of voting irregularities. That included 20 individuals Husted was referring to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Thursday who appear to have registered and cast ballots in both Ohio and another state. They included a man who voted in person in both Ohio and Kentucky on Election Day and a woman who cast an absentee ballot in Virginia then voted in person in Ohio. “Voter fraud does exist, but it’s not an epidemic,” Husted said.
While noting that fraud cases represented a tiny fraction of the 5.6 million Ohio votes cast last year, Husted said he wanted to send a message that even one instance of fraud is unacceptable.
“If you cheat, you will get caught and we will hold you accountable,” he said. “To the vast majority of voters who did it the right way in the state of Ohio — and I say the vast majority of voters — your vote will not be diluted by the people who have cheated.”
Most of the 135 cases were caught before fraudulent votes were counted, Husted said. Fraud was detected through cross-checks with voter records in 21 other states working to protect election integrity, he said.
Husted said boards of elections were also instructed to look for voter suppression, but no cases were documented of voters being denied ballots and no referrals were made — a finding questioned by Democratic state Rep. Kathleen Clyde of Kent.
Full Article: Ohio election review finds no voter fraud epidemic | www.ajc.com.
The Voting News
A News Service of the Verified Voting Foundation
