In Ohio, investigations into potential voter fraud have led to just a handful of cases involving noncitizens voting. A recent case involves Nicholas Fontaine, a Canadian-born permanent resident who moved to the US with his family at 2 years old. Despite receiving a postcard informing him of his polling place and showing his ID before voting, he was later indicted on one count of illegal voting due to a misunderstanding about military draft registration requirements.
Fontaine’s case illustrates the gap between rhetoric and reality on noncitizen voting in Ohio. Permanent residents like Fontaine are required to register for a potential military draft but cannot legally vote. The Department of Homeland Security informed him that his votes were illegal, prompting him not to vote again.
Faith Lyon, Portage County election director, notes that local officials couldn’t verify immigration status due to a checkbox on voter registration forms. Another case involves 40-year-old Fiona Allen, who moved from Jamaica nine years ago and voted despite being ineligible. Her attorney believes she didn’t intentionally defraud the system but rather followed guidance provided by her community.
The Ohio cases are part of a national trend where the narrative of widespread noncitizen voting is not supported by facts. State voter rolls are regularly cleaned, and penalties for casting an illegal ballot as a noncitizen include fines, potential prison time, and deportation. The role of such immigrants in swaying elections “served as a false narrative to keep the country divided,” according to Jay Young, senior director of Common Cause’s Voting and Democracy Program.
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Source: https://apnews.com/article/noncitizen-voting-republicans-prosecutions-2024-election-ohio-ae9dafeeb47ea8941bf82f5988b269ef