COLUMBUS, OH – Following a federal court ruling blocking part of Ohio’s voter citizenship verification law, the Democracy Defense Foundation (DDF) today warned that Ohio should not weaken safeguards designed to prevent the kinds of voter registration failures recently exposedin New Jersey.
In July, New Jersey officials disclosed that thousands of noncitizens were improperly registered to vote through the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission, including applicants who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens. Those failures are especially instructive now, following the August 25 court ruling in a lawsuit seeking to block key parts of Ohio’s voter citizenship verification law.
“New Jersey is a clear warning of what can happen when states rely too heavily on the honor system to determine voter eligibility,” said DDF Board Member Ken Blackwell. “Ohio has served as a voter integrity model for other states to follow, building multiple safeguards to verify eligibility, catch mistakes and keep voter rolls accurate. Those protections exist for a reason, and we need look no further than the Garden State to understand what’s at stake.”
Unlike New Jersey, which has used automatic voter registration through its Motor Vehicle Commission, Ohio has used an opt-in system requiring applicants to affirm they are U.S. citizens when submitting voter registration paperwork. Ohio has also used multiple layers of verification that New Jersey has not, including regular reviews of voter registration records against Bureau of Motor Vehicles data and the federal Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system. State election procedures have also addressed identification carrying a “NONCITIZEN” designation while providing recently naturalized citizens an opportunity to establish their eligibility.
DDF Board Member Zack Space added, “Courts will sort out the legal questions here, but the underlying goal shouldn’t be in dispute: every eligible Ohioan should be able to vote easily, and every ineligible registration should get caught. Ohio’s multi-layered system — BMV’s systemic checks, the federal SAVE database, and inherent protections for naturalized citizens — has long been a model for doing both at once.”
The Democracy Defense Foundation works to defend the transparency, safety, security and validity of the elections system. Its bipartisan board members, including former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) and former Ohio Congressman Zack Space (D), lead initiatives in Ohio and other key battleground states to preserve election integrity, strengthen confidence in election results and improve voter participation.
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Published: Sep 9, 2026
