Ohio is securing another win for election integrity by striking a deal with the federal government that Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has called “historic.”
On Monday, LaRose, a Republican, announced the “long-term” agreement with the federal government to verify voter registration eligibility.
“Ohio has a duty to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote, and this agreement gives us the tools to do that job right,” LaRose said in a press release. “I appreciate the Trump administration for working with us to deliver long-term access to the federal data needed to protect election integrity.”
The recently announced agreement between Ohio and the federal government ensures that the Buckeye State has access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE System for short, for the next 20 years.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March allowing states to access the SAVE System, which allows for states to cross-check voter registration data. A judge recently upheld that executive order.
While there is an agreement in place with the Trump administration, which LaRose’s office says will “ensure unprecedented access to citizenship and other federal records for use in verifying voter registration eligibility,” the Biden administration was not so compliant. This caused Ohio and other states also experiencing similar issues to sue the Department of Homeland Security under the previous administration.
An Agreement That Was a Long Time Coming
Ohio reached the agreement with the Trump administration because of the litigation that began in the Biden era. Once a federal court approves the agreement filed last week, LaRose’s office explained, the litigation will come to an end.
The Daily Signal reached out to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for comment but did not hear back.
The litigation started in October 2024 because, the Biden administration threw up roadblocks when LaRose sought increased access from DHS to verify citizenship of voters.
“The Secretary’s office made four requests over the course of several months, which were ultimately denied by the Biden administration. The Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security only responded after Ohio Congressman and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to then-Secretary Mayorkas asking why DHS would not respond to Ohio’s requests,” the press release further explained. “In October 2024, Secretary LaRose sued the Biden DHS and Secretary Mayorkas, seeking access to the databases under federal law.”
The Bigger Picture
LaRose and the increasingly red state of Ohio have been focused on election integrity for years.
“Ohio has taken substantial actions in recent years to fortify and expand its voter list maintenance protocols, particularly aimed at enforcing a new state constitutional citizenship voting requirement,” the press release also mentioned. A state ballot initiative overwhelmingly passed in 2022 that reaffirmed only citizens can vote in the Buckeye state.
Senate Bill 293 also passed the state legislature in Ohio, which LaRose testified in favor of, though Republican Governor Mike DeWine has yet to sign it. The bill “modif[ies] the deadlines governing the return of absent voter’s ballots” and also “codifies the Ohio Secretary of State’s current practice of reviewing the Statewide Voter Registration Database, on a monthly basis.”
LaRose’s announcement comes weeks after he announced a win on keeping foreign interference out of elections. As a result of a dropped lawsuit, a state law banning foreign contributions for ballot-measure campaigns has been upheld.
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