‘You Will Be Held Accountable’: Ohio Charges Six Non-Citizens With Illegally Voting

 Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced charges on Tuesday against six individuals for allegedly voting as non-citizens in previous elections. 

The indictments come after Ohio removed 500 non-citizens from its rolls in August after an audit of its voter registration database. Other states, like Georgia and Texas, have removed thousands of non-citizens from their rolls in recent months in the lead up to the November election. 

“The right to vote is sacred,” Yost said. “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.”

Those charged included Ramesh Patel, 68, of North Royalton; Lorinda Miller, 78, of Hudson; Nicholas Fontaine, 32; Ahmed Aden, 35, of Columbus; Van Thuy Cooper, 53, of Hilliard; and Maria Dearaujo, 62, of Columbus. They could all face up to 18 months in prison if convicted. 

Patel was accused of voting as a non-citizen in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and is expected to be arranged on November 1 in Cuyahoga County. 

Miller, Fontaine, Aden, Cooper, and Dearaujo are all described as legal permanent residents of the United States. They were accused of illegally voting in multiple elections: Miller (2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019), Fontaine (2016 and 2018), Aden (2008 and 2020),  Cooper (2016 and 2020), and Dearaujo (2016 and 2018). 

Yost said the indictments should not undermine confidence in the upcoming presidential election. 

“Irregularities like this are rare, and this is a small number of cases,” he said. “We should all be confident in the upcoming election, knowing that the laws are being enforced and will continue to be enforced.”

 

As Republican officials have pushed to clean up voter rolls across the country, Democrats and the legacy media have repeatedly downplayed concerns about non-citizen voting. 

States like Alabama and Virginia have faced lawsuits from the Justice Department over efforts to clean up voter rolls, arguing that the states’ actions were taking place too close to the presidential election. 

Earlier this year, the House approved legislation that would have required individuals to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in elections for federal office. The legislation also would have pushed the states to remove non-citizens from their rolls. The bill advanced to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where it stalled out.