Allowing noncitizens to vote is something you might expect in liberal parts of the country, like cities in Vermont. Legal battles are ongoing in New York after a judge ruled in June that noncitizens can’t vote in municipal elections, although the case is pending appeals. But now the liberal dream of creating up-to-date Democratic voters is reaching middle America.
Over the weekend in Avon, Ohio, Townhall spoke with Republican J.D. Vance, who is running against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for the open Ohio Senate seat. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has the distinction of being the only secretary of state endorsed by former President Donald Trump, also gave a speech and spoke exclusively with Townhall after the event.
Shortly before Vance took the stage, LaRose spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of about 150 to 200 touting the state’s election successes, in which Ohioans can be sure to learn the results that night. Voters need to pay attention not only to candidates but also to ballot initiatives, including number 2which deals with non-citizen voting in local elections. The vote in favor initiative supports “a ban on local governments allowing non-citizens or persons with no voting qualifications to vote in local elections.”
Ohioans take pride in their elections, which includes cherishing them as a right that only citizens have. But the liberal college town of Yellow Springs held a referendum and voted 58 percent to 42 percent to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. After LaRose sent them a letter saying they could do nothing, the town agreed.
But as LaRose acknowledged during his appearances and later, speaking to Townhall, if Yellow Springs had sued him, it’s possible they would have won. He’s confident his case will probably win, but you can never be too sure, given that there’s enough uncertainty in local races.
LaRose called the referendum initiative “a really simple idea” that “some people just took it for granted for a long time,” and the secretary explained that “the law has always been that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal or state elections, and it’s always been assumed that the same rules apply to local elections.”
From his office’s perspective, LaRose spoke about how “not only does this create security concerns, but it also creates a huge administrative burden on county boards of elections,” explaining that “if we started doing this, we would have to have separate systems, separate voting machines, separate voting databases, all of that.”
Ohio is once again proud of how quickly they were able to count their election results.
Speaking of the idea that allowing noncitizens to vote devalues the experience, it’s not just a concept for native-born citizens. As LaRose said, “it devalues that citizenship by giving it away, by giving away the right to vote.”
He spoke fondly of presiding over naturalization ceremonies, calling it and sharing, “here’s my admonition, if you were to talk to a group of people who had just taken the oath of citizenship… it’s an amazing thing, and these people are so excited and happy to take that oath, and then they go back to the voter registration that we have, and probably after hugging their family, the next thing they do after becoming a citizen is register to vote. They would tell you not to diminish, not to devalue what they’ve just earned by giving it away to somebody.”
When it came to warnings and acknowledging that this problem wasn’t confined to liberal states like New York and Vermont, LaRose cited Yellow Springs, but also a candidate for Cuyahoga County executive who promoted the idea of allowing everyone to vote, calling them “stupid” ideas.
If the initiative, which LaRose promoted for clarity, passes, the Ohio Constitution would be amended as follows:Just “a citizen of the United States… has the right to vote in all elections.”
