Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose detailed efforts by the Biden-Harris administration and liberal groups to push back on audits of voter rolls across the country ahead of Election Day.

LaRose highlighted his own lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at forcing the administration to share data he says would help identify non-citizens who are registered to vote. The ACLU and other left-leaning groups have also challenged efforts to clean up voter rolls in Ohio and other states.

“It should come as no surprise that the irresponsible Biden-Harris administration, who has thrown open the doors on the southern border; who has allowed our nation to be invaded in many ways… are also not allowing me as an election official to access data to prove that only American citizens are able to vote,” LaRose said.

“It’s shocking, and they left me no choice but to sue them,” he added.

NONPARTISAN WATCHDOG RELEASES REPORT OUTLINING TOP ELECTION SECURITY THREATS FOR 2024: ‘A LOT CAN GO SIDEWAYS’

The lawsuit claims there were four instances in which Ohio’s requests for access to federal Person Centric Query Service (PCQS) and Central Index System 2 (CIS2) records were ignored or denied.

“On October 10, 2024, nearly three months after first requesting assistance, Secretary LaRose received a response from DHS. The letter claimed that Ohio’s access to the SAVE program was sufficient—despite Ohio’s previous letters explaining why SAVE is largely useless here because Ohio lacks the identifiers needed to find specific individuals in SAVE,” the lawsuit reads.

Ohio’s ongoing search for wrongful voter registrations relies on analysis and cross-checks against records provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, the Social Security Administration, federal jury pool data and other resources.

HARRIS REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM TRUMP WANTS TO ‘BAN’ ABORTION

While LaRose’s office can access the SAVE database, states using it have to pay $1.50 for each query for records, and finding the information required to properly search the data is cumbersome, LaRose says.

The PCQS data the Biden administration has declined to share would provide a more comprehensive picture of whether any non-citizens remain registered to vote in Ohio, LaRose says.

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson said they are “engaged with Ohio and will continue to correspond with them directly through official channels.”

The ACLU sued LaRose’s office in an effort to stop certain people from having to verify their citizenship. (getty)

The DHS also pushed back on LaRose claim that the additional federal data would be helpful.

“A manual review of hundreds of thousands of records by the PCQS only allows users to submit one query at a time and would still not lead to a definitive result. Moreover, it would not be an efficient or accurate way to verify U.S. citizenship,” the DHS said.

CNN COMMENTATOR SCORCHES DEMS BLAMING TRUMP AT DNC: ‘SHE’S IN THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW’

“PCQS returns aggregated results across many different immigration systems for a single query at a time. Use of PCQS would require manual review of the results in each case to determine immigration status, as the systems may return disparate or conflicting results. As such, PCQS is not an option for state and local agencies to use for voter verification purpose,” it added.

Voters across the country are prepared to head to the polls on Election Day. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

LaRose went on to detail efforts by liberal groups to block the removal of registrations.

“Just yesterday, we won a major lawsuit in federal court where the ACLU sued me – this sounds like something that’s in the Babylon Bee – they sued me to say that we should accept non-citizen ID cards and then just allow people to vote without any citizenship verification.”

“Thankfully, common sense prevailed and the ACLU lost that. Of course, if your state-issued driver’s license says ‘non-citizen’ on it, we’re not going to simply hand you a ballot. We’re gonna ask for you to verify your citizenship,” he added.

The Biden-Harris administration has attempted to block states from cleaning up their voter rolls in the final days before Election Day. (Tierney L. Cross)

The ACLU’s lawsuit pertained to naturalized citizens attempting to vote with an ID that labeled them a non-citizen due to it being obtained prior to their naturalization. The ACLU argued such citizens should be able to affirm their naturalization on a government document at the polling site, while LaRose argued such an individual must provide their naturalization documents before casting a ballot.

“Requiring naturalized citizens to bring additional documentation to verify their eligibility to vote is not only burdensome and discriminatory, it’s unlawful,” Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, said of the suit.

A federal judge sided with LaRose on the issue last week.

LaRose added that the Justice Department has also sued states for attempting to remove bad registrations. Such DOJ lawsuits accuse state officials of violating the federally mandated “quiet period” that prohibits the systematic removal of registered voters within 90 days of Election Day.

The DOJ sued Virginia earlier in October in exactly this fashion, though the Supreme Court sided with state officials in a ruling last week.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that absentee ballots that were mailed late to voters in Cobb County will only be counted if they arrive back to election officials by Election Day, sparking GOP leadership to take a victory lap. 

“HUGE election integrity victory in Georgia. Democrat-run Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 absentee ballots AFTER the Election Day deadline. We took this case to the Georgia Supreme Court,” RNC chair Michael Whatley posted to X on Monday. 

“We just got word that we WON the case. Election Day is Election Day – not the week after. We will keep fighting, keep winning, and keep sharing updates,” he added. 

Last week, it was revealed that about 3,000 absentee ballots were mailed late to voters in Cobb County, with just days to spare ahead of Election Day. A county judge ruled on Nov. 1 that the Cobb County Board of Elections could count the ballots if they arrived by 5 p.m. Nov. 8, and were postmarked by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES BATTLES: LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD IMPACT THE VOTE BEFORE ELECTION DAY BEGINS

On Monday, the state’s Supreme Court granted an emergency motion ruling that ballots will only be counted if they are received by 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

Voters cast their ballots during the last day of early voting in Gwinnett County, Georgia, on Nov. 1, 2024. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Consistent with OCGA § 21-2-386, the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration (the ‘Board’) may count only those absentee ballots received by the statutory deadline of 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 5, 2024.” the order reads. 

ARIZONA HIGH COURT RULES SECRETARY OF STATE MUST TURN OVER LIST OF NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLL

REPUBLICANS SCORE VICTORY IN GEORGIA FIGHT OVER ELECTION OBSERVERS, RNC CHAIRMAN SAYS 

The ruling comes after the ACLU, ACLU of Georgia, and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit last week regarding roughly 3,000 voters in Cobb County who did not receive absentee ballots. A Superior Court judge subsequently ordered election officials to overnight mail the delayed absentee ballots, and ruled that the ballots should be counted if they are received by Nov. 8. 

The ACLU lamented the state Supreme Court ruling on Monday, and urged “all affected voters to prioritize voting in person on Election Day, November 5, 2024, if at all possible.”

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, Nov. 4, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

“This afternoon, the Georgia Supreme Court denied relief for Cobb County voters who requested absentee ballots on time but did not receive them on time due to the county’s failure to mail them promptly. The lower court had ruled that an extension of the absentee receipt deadline was necessary in order to protect these voters’ constitutional right to vote, but the Georgia Supreme Court stayed that ruling, removing the relief that the lower court had ordered. The November 8 extension deadline that the earlier order had issued is no longer in effect,” the ACLU said in a statement. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A Columbia, Tennessee man allegedly attempted to fly a drone packed with explosives into an energy facility before the FBI stopped him from destroying the critical infrastructure, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a press release, the DOJ said 24-year-old Skyler Philippi was arrested and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility.

“As charged, Skyler Philippi believed he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology – but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable.”

The DOJ said Philippi told a confidential human source (CHS) in June, that he wanted to commit a mass shooting at a YMCA in the Columbia, Tennessee area.

MARYLAND WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY IN ALLEGED EXTREMIST PLOT TO ATTACK BALTIMORE POWER GRID

Nearly a month later, he allegedly told another CHS that an attack on large interstate substations would “shock the system,” and cause other substations to malfunction.

According to the DOJ, Philippi researched previous attacks on electric substations, ultimately concluding that just using firearms was not enough. Instead, he planned to use a drone with explosives attached to it, and then fly the drone into a substation.

In September, Philippi allegedly went to a substation with undercover FBI employees that he had previously researched and conducted reconnaissance on.

MARYLAND WOMAN GETS PRISON SENTENCE FOR CONSPIRING TO TAKE OUT BALTIMORE POWER GRID

Skylar Philippi met with FBI undercover employees in an open area near Franklin, Tennessee, to test fly a drone. (Department of Justice)

While on the way, Philippi allegedly ordered C-4 and other explosives from the undercover employees, then later purchased black powder to put into pipe bombs. The DOJ said Philippi intended to use the pipe bombs during the attack on the substation.

He also allegedly texted the confidential source, “if you want to do the most damage as an accelerationist, attack high economic, high tax, political zones in every major metropolis.” Referring to the substation, Philippi stated, “Holy sh**. This will go up like a fu**in fourth of July firework.”

Philippi allegedly discussed the need for disguises, leather gloves, wearing shoes that are too big and the need to burn their clothes after attacking the substation. He also allegedly told the crew to not bring smartphones on the night of the attack.

FBI ARRESTS MAN, WOMAN WITH ‘EXTREMIST’ VIEWS IN ALLEGED POWER GRID ATTACK PLOT TARGETING 5 SUBSTATIONS

On Nov. 2, 2024, Philippi participated in a Nordic ritual and recited a Nordic prayer, the DOJ said.

“This is where the New Age begins,” Philippi reportedly told the undercover employees, adding it was time to do something big that would be remembered “in the annals of history.”

Philippi and the undercover employees drove to the site, and when they arrived, they moved to their assigned lookout positions before law enforcement agents arrested him.

The DOJ said Philippi was at the rear of the vehicle when he was arrested, where the drone was powered up. Next to the drone, the DOJ added, was an armed explosive.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Driven by a racially motivated violent extremist ideology, the Defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage. We are committed to holding accountable anyone who threatens the security of our critical infrastructure or seeks to harm American communities through domestic violent extremism.”

Philippi was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.