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Investigators from the Department of Homeland Security showed up at a Dayton area career tech high school to investigate allegations of voter fraud.

According to district officials, a former student reported feeling coerced to back a particular candidate during a registration drive in 2024.

In a statement, Homeland Security officials shed very little light on their visit. A spokesperson said the incident was “part of an ongoing criminal investigation.”

“DHS did not conduct any immigration enforcement at this school. There is no threat to public safety,” the spokesperson added.

But district officials and voting rights organizations worry about the message it sends ahead of an important federal election.

What happened?

Dayton Public Schools Superintendent David Lawrence said he got a call on the morning of Feb. 2 about federal officials at David Ponitz Career Technical High School. District protocol directs the principal to call his office if any member of homeland security or its subagencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement show up at a school.

“They came to David H. Ponitz claiming — claiming — that they had interviewed a Ponitz student, who’s no longer a student, who said they were part of some form of voter fraud,” Lawrence said.

According to the investigators, Lawrence explained, the former student alleged, “we directed them who to vote for, which was not true — there’s no evidence of that.”

Lawrence said the district has hosted nonpartisan voter registration drives at all of its high schools for at least 15 years. The district even makes time to walk interested students over to the county’s early voting center if they want to cast a ballot.

“We, at no time, ask anybody to vote for anyone,” Lawrence insisted.

“We just want to make sure they’re involved in the democratic process,” he added, “so this stays a democracy, and not a dictatorship. We’re committed to democracy, and that’s what we do.”

Reactions

Lawrence admitted he was “miffed” that federal agents were ready to start a voter fraud investigation following a single allegation from more than a year ago. But he insisted it won’t change anything about their voter registration program.

“It’ll probably be bigger than ever,” he said.

Ohio voting rights organizations were also quick to question the motives behind the investigation. Ohio League of Women Voters Executive Director Jen Miller noted high schools “are required by law to offer voter registration forms, because today’s students are our future elected officials and community leaders.”

“Registering students when they turn 18 helps turn lessons from the classroom into real civic participation,” she added. “We strongly condemn any efforts to intimidate Ohio students, schools, and leaders, and we will continue to monitor this situation closely.”

Steve David who heads up the Ohio chapter of All Voting Is Local sees a straight line from DHS’s investigation in an Ohio school to its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

“These intimidation tactics are the latest evidence that the goals of federal law enforcement are not about safety, or even immigration,” David said. “They are about silencing voters — and in this case, future voters — from their freedom to vote.”

Catherine Turcer, executive director of voting rights group Common Cause Ohio said it’s ” worth repeating that the administration does not have legal authority to control elections or change the voting process.”

Last October, the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. emphasized that point in an order blocking part of an executive order on voting procedures signed by President Trump. The judge wrote the U.S. Constitution grants authority to the states, first, but gives Congress the power to preempt state laws.

“By contrast,” the judge added, “the Constitution assigns no direct role to the President.”

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.

Original story can be found at https://ohiocapitaljournal.com