COLUMBUS, Ohio – Of the more than 5.5 million ballots were cast during the 2012 presidential election, 135 of them – or 0.000025 percent — were fraudulent, Secretary of State Jon Husted announced Thursday.
“This report demonstrates that voter fraud does exist; but it is not an epidemic,” Husted said.
Husted released the first-ever statewide report on voter fraud based on a review of cases by Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections.
The 135 cases of fraud have been referred to law enforcement authorities for further investigation and possible prosecution, 20 voters Husted says his office will refer to the Attorney General because they are registered to vote in Ohio and another state and appear to have cast ballots in each this past November.
Husted says the 20 cases surface as part his office’s participation in the 22-state Interstate Crosscheck Program.
“While it is apparent that incidents of voter fraud have occurred and we must remain vigilant, it is also clear that the safeguards we have in place worked in the majority of these cases,” Secretary Husted said.
County election boards have identified cases of double voting, voting for others, including dead people, and for voting from an address from which they were not eligible.
Following a directive from Husted, county election officials have been counting cases of possible fraud and voter suppression and have reported 625 cases so far, Husted said.
Husted says no voters were denied ballots and no referrals have been made as a result of voters claiming suppression.