Ohio Noncitizen Voter Purge Program Challenge
League of Women Voters of Ohio v. LaRose
A pro-voting lawsuit challenging Ohio’s voter purge program targeting alleged noncitizen voting.
Background
The League of Women Voters of Ohio and the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Northern Ohio filed a lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) challenging Senate Bill 293 (SB 293), a 2025 law that requires monthly voter-roll checks using state and federal databases and mandates the cancellation of registrations flagged as belonging to noncitizens. According to the lawsuit, SB 293 directs LaRose to systematically check and compare state voter registration data with the citizenship records of the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, and individuals flagged under these citizenship-check requirements will have their voter registrations cancelled without prior notice or any opportunity to respond. The plaintiffs argue that SB 293 violates Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by contravening the NVRA’s 90-day “quiet period,” which prohibits systematic voter-roll purges within 90 days of a federal election and failing to ensure that list-maintenance programs are uniform and nondiscriminatory. They also argue that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by canceling voter registrations without adequate notice or a meaningful opportunity to be heard. They are asking the court to permanently block LaRose from implementing the law’s citizenship-based purge program.
Why It Matters
SB 293 puts eligible voters — particularly naturalized citizens — at risk of being purged from the voter rolls, without meaningful prior notice, even right up to Election Day. According to the lawsuit, the BMV and SAVE databases often contain outdated citizenship information, particularly for naturalized citizens whose status may not be automatically updated after naturalization. As a result, naturalized citizens are at heightened risk of being wrongly flagged and removed.
Latest Updates
- Feb. 13, 2026: Plaintiffs filed their complaint.