State, Cleveland officials: Voters need to update their information before 2026 elections

Thousands of voters living in the Cleveland area need to update their information before the 2026 elections begin if they want to cast ballots, with the local officials as well as Secretary of State Frank LaRose informing people on how to do so.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections notified 11,000 voters in the county on Tuesday about their documents, including driver’s license, state ID, Social Security number, or date of birth, not matching what’s in the BOE’s registration database, according to Cleveland.com.

Peter James, election and compliance administrator, said that if these voters who are marked as “must vote provisional” don’t correct the information, they won’t be able to vote, Cleveland.com reported. He said voters can update their information in advance through the election office or at the polls, adding that those who delay the process will still have to vote provisionally.

“If your information cannot be verified, your registration will be canceled,” a notice letter said, per Cleveland.com.

According to Board of Elections Deputy Director Anthony Kaloger, if a person has not tried to vote or update their registration information in the past four years, their registration will automatically be cancelled.

The changes were implemented after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 293.

“If you do get a voter confirmation notice, return that as soon as possible, get that corrected, and then you won’t have any issues when you go to vote,” Kaloger said, per the Cleveland report.

In a post on X, LaRose wrote that “accurate voter rolls matter,” adding that he is “proud that we take it seriously in Ohio.”

“If your board of elections asks you to update or verify your info, it’s important that you respond promptly! If you don’t, it may impact your ability to have your vote count in future elections,” he wrote.

Accurate voter rolls matter, and I’m proud that we take it seriously in Ohio.

If your board of elections asks you to update or verify your info, it’s important that you respond promptly! If you don’t, it may impact your ability to have your vote count in future elections.…

— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 18, 2026

LaRose also noted that he expanded a voter data-integrity tool across all 88 Ohio counties.

“For the last year, boards of elections have used our data integrity tool to correct as many records as possible,” he wrote in a post to X. “If your record is still not verified, the board has already investigated and determined the record CANNOT be verified with the information they have.”

For the last year, boards of elections have used our data integrity tool to correct as many records as possible.

If your record is still not verified, the board has already investigated and determined the record CANNOT be verified with the information they have.

Learn more:…

— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 18, 2026

In another post on X, LaRose criticized those who try to oppose these voting-related measures, specifically Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, who said that “non-citizens voting is so rare as to be virtually non-existent,” according to WVXU.

“What is the level of noncitizen voting where it would become unacceptable then for you? Are there other crimes you think I should ignore? We’ve removed 1,048 noncitizens from the voter rolls in just the last 18 months. With 10 tie vote contests last year, any one of them could’ve been a spoiler,” he wrote. “Voter fraud is rare because of the work we do to prevent it.”

What is the level of noncitizen voting where it would become unacceptable then for you? Are there other crimes you think I should ignore?

We’ve removed 1,048 noncitizens from the voter rolls in just the last 18 months. With 10 tie vote contests last year, any one of them… https://t.co/eZDCDk0Cfp

— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) February 19, 2026