“The Board confirmed they’ve only received one of these unauthorized forms, but they rightly recognized it as illegal and worked with my team to track down its source with the help of a county government assistance office,” said Hun Yi, director of investigations for the office’s public integrity division, in a memo to elections officials.
“The form was erroneously included among others outsourced to a foreign language translation service. It garnered national attention considering the high number of Haitian refugees that have recently migrated to the Springfield area, and it serves as an important reminder that boards and designated voter registration agencies should be vigilant about the use of forms submitted to their office.”
His office did not indicate what government agency had provided the form.
Clark County Board of Elections officials could not be reached for comment.
Noncitizens cannot legally vote in Ohio.
“The entire statewide voter registration database is cross-checked for citizenship status on an ongoing basis, and we’ve implemented a mandatory citizenship check of all new voter registrations,” Yi said in the memo to elections officials. “If you have any reason to believe an individual or group is encouraging noncitizen participation in Ohio’s elections, please report that activity to our Election Integrity Unit immediately for investigation.”
An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian migrants have moved to Springfield and Clark County in the last several years, prompting efforts by social services and government agencies and schools to adapt to language barriers for these immigrants who speak Haitian Creole.
While Yi calls them “refugees” in his memo to boards most Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eligible for or approved for the Temporary Protected Status immigration designation, and may also have applied for asylum.
The rise in the Haitian immigrant population has become more controversial recently as falsehoods about the immigrants, including unsubstantiated claims that they are eating dogs and cats, have been repeated by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate on Tuesday and by his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
City, county and law enforcement officials have said those claims are false.
On Thursday multiple government buildings and schools were closed after bomb threats by someone who claimed to be from Springfield and expressed concerns about Haitian immigrants, according to Springfield Mayor Rob Rue.
Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Springfield Driver’s Exam Station, Ohio License Bureau on the south side, Springfield Academy of Excellence and Fulton Elementary School were all named in the threat and cleared using explosive-detecting canines.
Staff writers Jessica Orozco and Jeremy P. Kelley contributed to this report.
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