League of Women Voters of Ohio v. LaRose (SB 293 Challenge)

SB 293, enacted by the Ohio legislature in November 2025 and taking effect in March 2026, makes several changes to elections in Ohio. One provision requires the Ohio Secretary of State to conduct a review of the state voter roll for noncitizens at least once a month. These reviews would be completed using information from the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program run by the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle’s records (“purge program”). Those voters flagged as non-citizens would have their registrations “promptly” canceled by county election officials after being flagged by the Secretary of State’s office. 

On February 13, 2026, the League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWVO) and the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) of Northern Ohio filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, asserting the purge program violated the following laws and constitutional provisions.  

1. Section 8(c) of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (codified as 52 U.S.C. § 20507(c)(2)(A)) 

The plaintiffs argued SB 293 violated the NVRA’s quiet period provision, which forbids states from conducting systemic purges within 90 days of a federal election. The plaintiffs stated the purge program did not comply with this provision, because it required ongoing, regular, and systematic citizenship-based voter list maintenance throughout the year without including an exception for the quiet period.  

2. Section 8(b) of the National Voter Registration Act (codified as 52 U.S.C. § 20507(b)(1)) 

Section 8(b) of the NVRA requires voter list maintenance programs to be “uniform and non-discriminatory,” The plaintiffs asserted that the purge program violated this provision by targeting naturalized citizens via the use of unreliable, outdated systems like the SAVE system, leading to an increased risk of disenfranchising naturalized citizens.  

3. Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution 

Finally, the plaintiffs argued that the purge program violated the Due Process Clause by cancelling a voter’s registration, and thus depriving them of their ability to vote, upon being flagged by the state as a non-citizen before being provided notice and an opportunity to contest the removal. 

LWVO and CAIR-Northern Ohio are represented in this matter by the ACLU of Ohio and ACLU.