Can non-U.S. citizens use a driver's license to vote in U.S. elections? No, that's not true: Only U.S. citizens who are older than 18 and have registered to vote can vote in the presidential election, according to the Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules website and the U.S. government website. Searching USA.gov and Ohio's Laws and Administrative Rules for evidence of "non-citizen voting" did not lead us to any evidence that would substantiate the claim found in an X post. Lead Stories did not find any evidence on news websites that confirmed what the post on X suggested.
The claim appeared in a post and video on X (archived here) on September 18, 2024. The caption read:
I was almost thrown out of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles BMV in Springfield, OH
Police called out on me for recording illegal aliens from Haiti getting drivers license and commercial drivers license.
Will these millions of illegals use their NEW DRIVERS LICENSE TO VOTE??
Comment below. @LFATVUS
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Oct 2 13:08:59 2024 UTC)
The video with the post is of Hernando Arce, a "citizen journalist" from San Antonio, Texas, according to his X bio, recording Springfield, Ohio, Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) employees and customers. For the first half of the 8-minute, 30-second video, the BMV employees and Arce argue about whether he is allowed to record in the building. In the second half, Arce speaks only to Black customers coming in the building, films his surroundings, and adds commentary. At one point in the video, Arce identifies a couple as being Haitian immigrants, but does not provide any proof to support that claim.
The claim that "illegal aliens" can vote with just a driver's license is not true. Ohio's Laws and Administrative Rules states:
Only a citizen of the United States, of the age of eighteen years, who has been a resident of the state, county, township, or ward, such time as may be provided by law, and has been registered to vote for thirty days, has the qualifications of an elector, and is entitled to vote at all elections. No person who lacks those qualifications shall be permitted to vote at any state or local election held in this state.
USA.gov has the same qualifications on their website:
You can vote in U.S. federal, state, and local elections if you:
- Are a U.S. citizen ...
- Meet your state's residency requirements ...
- Are 18 years old on or before Election Day ...
- Are registered to vote by your state's voter registration deadline. North Dakota does not require voter registration.
Searching USA.gov and Ohio's Laws and Administrative Rules for "non-citizen voting" did not provide Lead Stories with any evidence that non-U.S. citizens have the right to vote in U.S. elections. The USA.gov site, under a topic line titled "Who can and cannot vote," states: "Non-citizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal, state, and most local elections."
Lead Stories searched for recent news stories mentioning "Springfield, Ohio," "Bureau of Motor Vehicles," "driver's license," "voting" and "Haitian immigrants" on Google News. Other than reports debunking similar claims, we found no evidence that would confirm the truth of claim (archived here).
At the time this was written, Reuters had reviewed the same claim.
More Lead Stories fact checks on claims related to Haitian immigrants are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims about the 2024 U.S. election are here.
