LaRose, Frank S o S

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mma

Right-wing media figures are exploiting state clerical errors and voter roll purges to fearmonger about mass voting by noncitizens

Right-wing media figures are accusing Democrats of “cheating,” though audits and studies have repeatedly shown that noncitizen voting rarely happens at all

Written by Jack Winstanley

Published 10/03/24

Conservative outlets and media figures are amplifying reports of clerical errors, state voter roll audits, and Republican lawsuits to push a narrative that noncitizens are being widely allowed to vote in elections, despite evidence that very few votes are actually cast — and this right-wing framing is being used to argue that Democrats will “cheat” in November’s election. Meanwhile, multiple GOP-led states are pushing for voter roll purges that disenfranchise thousands of legal voters.

## Right-wing media figures and politicians have stoked fears of mass voting by noncitizens, despite evidence that it rarely happens

- Right-wing media figures and politicians have repeatedly evoked the specter of mass voting by noncitizens to promote supposed “election integrity” measures and stricter voter ID laws. Right-wing figures are fixated on voters registered through DMV offices and driver's license applications as a potential source of mass voter fraud. This fixation follows years of right-wing media figures conflating “voter fraud” with registration inaccuracies to claim that “dead people” and “illegal aliens” are casting ballots. Media Matters, [7/11/24, 2/21/16]

- Fox News has spent months pushing the false narrative that undocumented immigrants are coming across the border in droves to vote in the election — with several network figures citing driver's licenses as a source of fraud. In one segment, Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo cited a debunked video in claiming that “14% of illegal immigrants admitted that they are registered to vote.” In another, host Jeanine Pirro baselessly claimed that migrants are “lining up to vote right now, given driver’s license.” Media Matters, [9/16/24]

- Right-wing media figures have also repeatedly pushed the “great replacement” conspiracy theory — accusing Democrats of weaponizing the immigration system for their own electoral gain. Conservatives have claimed that the Biden administration is allowing “a wide open border” in order to sway electoral and census data so Democrats “can get more Electoral College votes so they can find another way to rig elections.” Media Matters, [3/4/24, 3/26/24, 1/12/24, 6/30/22]

- Right-wing media pushed conspiracy theories that helped to successfully convince six Republican-led states to pull out of an interstate voter data-sharing effort over bogus claims of inflated voter rolls. Right-wing media claimed that the Electronic Registration Information Center — a system for states to share voter registration data for cleanup and auditing — is really a “left wing voter registration drive disguised as voter roll clean up.” Media Matters, [5/4/23]

- Numerous studies — including from right-wing organization The Heritage Foundation — have concluded that noncitizen voting is extremely rare and does not influence election outcomes. A 2017 study from the Brennan Center for Justice analyzed 23.5 million ballots from 42 jurisdictions and found only 30 cases of potential noncitizen voting. An audit of Georgia’s voter rolls found less than 2,000 instances of noncitizens attempting to register to vote over the last 25 years, with none being accepted and allowed to vote. The Associated Press, [10/19/22; Brennan Center for Justice, 5/5/17; Georgia Secretary of State, 4/11/22; Immigration Impact, 8/1/24]

- It is illegal for noncitizens to make a false claim of citizenship on a voter registration form and to vote in federal elections. As noted by Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center Voting Rights Program at New York University’s school of law, “making a false claim of citizenship on a voter registration form is a federal criminal offense that carries steep penalties, including deportation.” Democracy Docket, [7/9/24; NPR, 4/12/24; PolitiFact, 5/20/24]

## Oregon, Arizona, and Ohio recently reported issues that apparently registered some noncitizens to vote

- In Oregon, an oversight with the state's automatic voter registration system allowed 306 noncitizens to be registered — with two casting ballots since 2021. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, the error occurred as part of a “data entry issue” with driver's license applications after state law allowed noncitizens to obtain a license in 2019. The Associated Press, [9/16/24; Oregon Post Beacon, 9/13/24]

- Arizona officials are addressing a “clerical error” where nearly 100,000 registered voters — most of whom are legitimate voters — were mistakenly recorded as having provided documentation proving their citizenship. Such documentation is only required in Arizona to be eligible to vote in state and local elections and would not impact anyone’s ability to vote in the 2024 presidential election. According to the Arizona secretary of state, the error is limited to individuals who were issued a license before October 1996. The Washington Post reports that according to state officials, the affected voters “skewed Republican, and nearly all of them appeared to be citizens.” NPR, [9/17/24; CNN, 9/17/24, 9/20/24; The Washington Post, 9/28/24]

- In Ohio, a routine audit of voter rolls identified a possible few hundred individuals — a small fraction of the state’s electorate — who either registered to vote or cast a ballot despite being noncitizens. CNN explains: “In a state with about 8 million registered voters, a recent review of Ohio’s voter rolls resulted in the removal of 154,995 abandoned or inactive voter registrations. A far smaller number, 597, have been referred by Secretary of State Frank LaRose to the state’s attorney general for ‘further review and potential prosecution’ for possibly registering to vote as a noncitizen. However, an even smaller number, 138, ‘appear to have cast a ballot in an Ohio election.’” CNN, [9/12/24; The Associated Press, 8/21/24; Ohio Capital Journal, 9/14/24]

## Republicans are using claims of noncitizen voting to push for voter roll purges, disenfranchising citizens and legitimate voters

- Republican officials in several states have launched investigations into potential cases of noncitizens being registered. In Alabama, 3,200 people were identified by the secretary of state as part of an initiative to identify noncitizen voters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that “over 6,500 potential noncitizens” were removed from the state's voter rolls. NPR, [8/30/24; Texas Monthly, 9/18/24]

- Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Trump campaign and its allies have filed lawsuits in seven states preemptively claiming that the election will be affected by noncitizen voting. According to Reuters, the lawsuits filed in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Texas alleged that the states’ automatic voter registration program was a partisan attempt to register Democrats. A lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and North Carolina GOP alleges that the state “allowed over 225,000 people to register to vote” without proper citizenship documentation. In Nevada, the Trump campaign, state GOP, and RNC filed a lawsuit alleging that the secretary of state has improperly managed voter rolls allowing noncitizens to be registered. Reuters, [9/19/24; Democracy Docket, 8/26/24; Nevada Independent, 9/15/24]

- Republican-led purges of active voter rolls have disenfranchised naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote across the country. In 2023, Democrats in Virginia called for an investigation after thousands of voters were mistakenly removed from state voter rolls. Several individuals who were mistakenly removed from Alabama’s voter roll in 2024 have been left with little recourse, and over 14,000 registered voters in Tennessee received letters stating they had to prove citizenship under threat of felony charges. Ahead of his successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp removed over 560,000 voters from the state roll over supposed “inactivity,” but a separate investigation found that 107,000 of them were still eligible to vote. NPR, [11/1/23, 8/30/24; Newsweek, 11/1/23; American Public Media, 10/29/19]

## Right-wing media figures have exploited the recently reported errors, state audits, and Republican lawsuits to fearmonger about noncitizens voting en masse and accuse Democrats of trying to cheat in elections

- The New York Post amplified a Republican lawsuit to claim that noncitizens voting could “tip the presidential race in Nevada.” The article also uncritically parrots the claim from a Trump campaign lawsuit that “an estimated 3,700+ [noncitizens] will cast a ballot in November’s presidential election,” and directly connects the suit to right-wing intentions of “purging rolls,” specifically citing the “close results” of recent state elections. New York Post, [9/13/24]

- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room to celebrate removing “over 600 noncitizens on the voter rolls,” admitting “that’s a small number out of 8 million” voters registered in the state. Real America’s Voice, *War Room*, [9/10/24]

- In an article discussing a forthcoming audit of Pennsylvania’s voter roll, The Federalist embedded a social media post claiming the Commonwealth's automatic voter registration system was implemented so Democrats “can register the illegals to vote.” The Federalist, [9/16/24]

- Reacting to reports of “Nearly 100,000 Swing State Voters” potentially receiving the wrong ballots in Arizona, right-wing social media figure Phillip Buchanan, known online as “Catturd,” claimed that “Democrats are already cheating in every way possible.” Twitter/X, [9/19/24; Daily Dot, 11/17/23]

- Sharing a post about the Nevada lawsuit, Buchanan stated, “All Democrats do is cheat.” Twitter/X, [9/20/24]

- Conservative commentator Steve Guest claimed that Oregon’s clerical error “was not a ‘mistake’” but rather is “a feature of their bad policies.” In a second post, Guest claimed that “the ‘mistakes’ happen in the same direction seemingly all of the time. A Democrat state registers a bunch of non citizens to vote.” Twitter/X, [9/14/24, 9/24/24]

- Conservative author and radio host Bo Snerdley speculated that the Oregon DMV may have registered additional noncitizens, claiming “300 is what they are admitting to. Who knows if that's real or not.” Twitter/X, [9/14/24]

- The Federalist connected a single case of a noncitizen charged for voting in Iowa to the supposed “growing threat of noncitizen voting, particularly in light of the border crisis.” The article fearmongered “that the federal government only prosecuted 35 cases of illegal aliens voting in U.S. elections in 21 years, despite the fact that untold millions have poured across the southern border at the same time,” claiming “that at least tens-of-thousands had been illegally registered to vote.” The Federalist, [9/25/24]

- Infowars host Alex Jones claimed that the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling “proves Arizona was stolen in 2020. That means Trump won and is the real president.” Twitter/X, [9/21/24]

- A segment on Fox News’ America Reports discussing voter roll purges featured Chad Ennis, the vice president of election denial organization the Honest Elections Project, who stated that noncitizen voting “certainly probably has” impacted a U.S. election, calling it “silly” to suggest otherwise. Fox News, *America Reports*, [9/6/24; Media Matters, 10/27/22]

- Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo said that “a lot of Republicans are saying illegals coming from the open border are being given driver's licenses and are wanting to get registered to vote.” Bartiromo also suggested that the Biden administration could be responsible for the errors in Oregon and other states, asking, “Hasn't the Biden administration been very clear that it's a whole-of-government plan to get every agency involved in the election?” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [9/18/24]

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_LaRose

Frank LaRose (born April 18, 1979) is an American politician. He currently serves as Ohio's Secretary of State after serving two terms as a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate from Ohio's 27th Senate district which includes Wayne County as well as portions of Stark and Summit Counties.

Early life and military career

LaRose was born at Akron City Hospital and grew up in Copley Township in Summit County, Ohio.^[3] His father was the co-owner of a beverage distributor.^[4] He has four siblings.^[4]

According to his official biography, he is an Eagle Scout.^[3] He graduated from Copley High School and enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the 101st Airborne Division and later the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets). He received the Bronze Star for his service as a warrior in Iraq with the U.S. Special Forces.^[3]

After returning from Iraq, LaRose married Lauren Kappa and graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Affairs and a minor in Business Administration.^[3]

Ohio Senate career

Ohio Senate election (2010)[

LaRose ran for Ohio Senate in 2010 and defeated the Democratic nominee, Summit County Councilman Frank Comunale, in the 27th District, a Democratic-leaning district.^[5] LaRose edged out Comunale 56.5% to 43.5%.^[6][5]

Ohio Senate (2011-2013)

LaRose was sworn into the Ohio Senate in 2011. Governing magazine named him one of "12 State Legislators to Watch in 2014."^[7]

LaRose was chair of the Ohio Senate Transportation, Commerce and Workforce Committee, and previously was chair of the State and Local Government Committee and Public Safety, Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee. He previously was chair of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.^[8]

LaRose voted for Senate Bill 5 which reduced collective bargaining rights for public workers (including police, firefighters, and teachers).^[9][10] LaRose added that he agonized over the decision.^[11][12] After the bill, which passed by a narrow margin, was repealed by a public referendum, LaRose said, "The voters have made it clear that this was not the course they wished to take."^[12] In 2018, LaRose said, "As I look back on (my yes vote on SB5) am I confident I did the right thing? Not necessarily."^[9]

LaRose voted for the Congressional Redistricting plan (HB 369).^[13] that is now under legal challenge for gerrymandering.^[14]

Ohio Senate (2014-2018)[

LaRose won re-election for his seat in 2014.

LaRose sponsored a bill to eliminate six days of early voting (SB 238), and prohibit county Board of Elections from sending out unsolicited absentee voting applications.^[15] In 2016, he voted for SB 296, introduced by Rep. Bill Seitz which would require a monetary payment in order to extend voting hours at any vote center for any reason.^[16]

During his Senate tenure, LaRose supported every abortion restriction proposed.^[17] In a now deleted page on his website (https://www.franklarose.com/100-pro-life-voting-record/) but still indexed on Google, LeRose heralds his "100% pro-life voting record".

larose deleted anti-abortion webpage

His 2016, his legislative aide, Jessica Koehler, joined Ohio's Right to Life as the Director of Legislative Affairs.^[18]

LaRose voted for SB 72 in 2011, a "late-term abortion" ban, which only affects 1% of abortions,^[19] and provided no exception for the mother's health.^[20] This was reintroduced as HB 78, which lowered the ban from 24 to 20 weeks, but allowed for an exemption for the woman's health.^[21] In 2015, he voted for SB 127, a 20-week abortion ban, and cosponsored HB 294, which prohibited public funds for abortion services.

In 2016, he supported HB 493, a heartbeat bill, even though similar bills have been unanimously blocked by the judiciary in several states.^[22] In 2017, he voted for SB 28, which would require the burial or cremation of fetal remains, identical to a similar bill which has been blocked in Texas.^[23]

In 2017, he sponsored legislation to prevent women from having abortions after a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.^[24] He also voted for SB 145, which bans certain abortion procedures.

The American Conservative Union gave him a 100% evaluation for 2017.

Ohio Secretary of State

Candidacy for state secretary (2018)

On May 17, 2017, LaRose announced that he would run for Ohio Secretary of State in the 2018 election. LaRose defeated Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde in the general election 50.9% to 46.7%.^[25]

Early during the campaign, LaRose indicated that he would continue a policy of purging voters from voter rolls if those voters had not voted for six consecutive years.^[26] Later during the campaign, LaRose said that he did not support the policy.^[27] In 2016, LaRose opposed automatic voter registration, but said during the campaign that he supported automatic voter registration.^[27] While in Ohio Senate, LaRose sponsored legislation to eliminate Ohio's "Golden Week" (a five-day period when Ohioans could register and vote on the same day); during the 2018 campaign, LaRose said he favored a different same-day registration system.^[27]

During the campaign, Clyde supported a shift to a uniform paper ballot system in Ohio; LaRose said he favored the current system where there is a requirement for a paper trail for ballots but all counties are allowed to use their own machines.^[28] Clyde called for the adoption of postal voting to replace early in-person voting; LaRose supported the existing system which is a combination of early in-person voting and postal voting.^[28]

Ohio's Secretary of State (2019-present)

On January 12, 2019, LaRose was sworn in to serve as Ohio's 51st Secretary of State, a four-year term.^[29] He was the "first Summit County resident elected Ohio secretary of state in about 166 years."^[30]

In April 2019, he observed the Ukrainian presidential election.^[31] He was promoting simplifying the voter roll purging process in May 2019.^[32] He was also seeking automated voter registration,^[33] stating he was crafting an election reform bill on the issue.^[34] In June 2019, he ordered county boards of elections to undergo security upgrades for the 2020 election.^[35]

As the top election official in Ohio, in September 2019, LaRose had spent "months working on a project to purge Ohio’s inactive voterswhile also trying to address long-standing criticisms of the controversial process."^[36] He was urged to halt a purge of inactive voters by Democrats over errors, but he defended the purge.^[37] In September 2019, his office was reviewing Ohio voter registrations that might have been incorrectly deleted in vendor errors, with Democrats suing.^[38]

In September 2019, he was released from a February 2019 lawsuit filed by members of environmental activist groups, who "accused elections officials of using unconstitutional tactics that kept certain initiatives from going before voters."^[39] That month, he also claimed that Ohio had the most secure elections in the United States.^[40]On September 19, 2019, he said he was in the process of distributing $12.8 million EAC funds.^[41]

On October 9, 2019, the Ohio Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 52, which among other reasons, made LaRose a member of Ohio’s Homeland Security Advisory Council.^[42]

Personal life

According to his official biography, LaRose lives in Hudson, Ohio with his wife, Lauren and their three daughters.^[3]

According to his official biography, LaRose is a board member of the Ohio Historical Society; Junior Vice Commander of the Fairlawn Veterans of Foreign Wars; and a member of the executive board for the Great Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America.^[3]

Reference

https://ballotpedia.org/Frank_LaRose

Ohio GOP secretary of state wants Kent State to cancel Jane Fonda’s commemoration speech

It was half a century ago — on May 4,…

===

Sen. Frank LaRose (R-27), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force member. ^[35]. Paid ALEC 2-year membership fees on October 22, 2014, and on June 13, 2013.^[8]

1 link?

https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/how-ohios-fascist-pro-nuke-attack-on-democracy-threatens-the-referendum-process-across-the-nation/

no lnx

How Ohio’s fascist pro-nuke attack on democracy threatens the referendum process across the nation

Written by Harvey Wasserman / Common Dreams October 20, 2019

A terrifying series of gestapo-style assaults, petiton buying, bribery, mass media manipulation and systematic intimidation has smacked into the attempt of Ohio citizens to repeal a billion-dollar bailout for two dangerously failing atomic reactors on Lake Erie.

The unprecedented assault threatens the referendum process in Ohio and across the nation.

It also threatens to keep on line two very old, dangerously decayed reactors where melt-downs and explosions could forever contaminate the Great Lakes region and more. (For a full explanation, hear this one-hour discussion).

The story may end Monday, October 21, when signatures are due to qualify an anti-nuclear referendum for the fall 2020 ballot.

It begins with the July passage by the gerrymandered Ohio Legislatureof HB6, a massive bailout scheme designed to subsidize the Perry and Davis-Besse nukes, plus two fifty-year-old coal burners, one of them in Indiana. HB6 does support ten small solar facilities. But it also kills an extremely popular, effective energy efficiency program along with larger subsidies for wind and solar energy in general.

The bailout is vehemently opposed by a large majority of Ohioans, including most of its usually pro-corporate media. Commercial, industrial and environmental groups did mount a massive campaign meant to stop the bill from passing. But with help from Democrats in both houses, the Legislature narrowly approved the bailouts.

Almost immediately, a referendum was filed for repeal. With 265,000 signatures due by October 21, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts began hiring canvassers.

Ohio’s GOP Secretary of State delayed the process as long as possible. He waiting a full 20 days before turning down the first petition submission. He then waited another 20 to certify the second.

But as soon as the referendum supporters began gathering signatures, pro-nuke forces attacked with a fascist assault unlike any other in US history.

First they began running an astonishing wave of TV ads claiming thereferendum was a plot by Chinese Communists to take over Ohio’s electrical grid. The ads feature (they are still running!) hordes of goose-stepping Chinese soldiers, sinister footage of China’s dictator, shuttered US factories, and more.

Accompanied by high-gloss mass mailings, the pro-nuke forces are also running saturation radio ads warning Ohioans to shun all signature gatherers lest they be tracked by sinister communists out to ruin their lives and credit. A toll-free number is offered to those willing to call in the location of any repeal supporters.

But the pro-nuke gestapo has also leapt from mere media manipulation to physical intimidation.When the referendum-gatherers hit the streets, they were confronted by industry “blockers” to tangibly prevent them from doing their job. In one case (as filmed on a security camera) a blocker smacked the cell phone out of the hands of a signature gatherer as he tried to photograph her. Gatherers have widely reported close-up verbal assaults. In some cases as many as three paid blockers have surrounded a single signature gatherer to prevent anyone from coming near to signing a petition.

Because many of the signature gatherers are hired employees, they’re required to register contact information with the state. The pro-nuke mob has assaulted them with threatening phone calls. In some cases they’ve reportedly offered substantial cash payments and airline tickets if they leave the state. One signature gatherer reported being offered $2500 (!) for the day’s accumulated sign-up sheets, which would presumably then be shredded.

Under the circumstances, many now wonder if the pro-referendum forces have been able to accumulate the required 265,000 signatures, plus the many more needed for a traditional cushion. The Republican Secretary of State is certain to discard as many signatures as he can, especially with the micro-managed scrutiny of the nuclear industry.

The ramifications of such an outcome are staggering. It could signal the death of the popular referendum, a cornerstone of the democratic process.

It could also mean two old, uncompetitive, uninsured, un-inspected crumbling atomic reactors highly likely to explode will continue to threaten the entire Great Lakes region for years to come.

GOP's LaRose elected Ohio Secretary of State - WDTN.com

https://www.wdtn.com › news › gops-larose-elected-ohio-secretary-of-state

:{:(style="border-color:#006621;;border-style:solid;border-width:5px 4px 0px;width:0px;height:0px;margin-left:3px;top:7.5px;margin-top:-4px;position:absolute;left:0px"):}:

:{Nov 7, 2018 - Republican Sen. Frank LaRose has won the race for :{Ohio Secretary of State:(style="font-weight:bold"):}:. Voting returns from Tuesday show LaRose defeated Democrat Kathleen Clyde, a :{state:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: representative from Kent. The 39-year-old LaRose will replace :{Secretary of State:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: Jon Husted (HYOO’-sted), who ran on the ...:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

Ohio Secretary of State - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ohio_Secretary_of_State

:{:(style="border-color:#006621;;border-style:solid;border-width:5px 4px 0px;width:0px;height:0px;margin-left:3px;top:7.5px;margin-top:-4px;position:absolute;left:0px"):}:

:{The :{Ohio Secretary of State:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; ...:(style="overflow-wrap:break-word"):}:

**Term length**‎: ‎Four years, two term limit

Inaugural holder‎: ‎William Creighton, Jr. 1803

Salary‎: ‎$109,554

Missing: gop ‎| ‎Must include: ‎gop

https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/ohio-to-purge-more-than-200000-voters-using-list-flagged-with-numerous-errors/

no lnx

Ohio to purge more than 200,000 voters using list flagged with numerous errors

Written by Igor Derysh / Salon September 9, 2019

Ohio is set to purge nearly a quarter-million people from its voter rolls Friday despite journalists and voting rights groups finding repeated mistakes on the state’s list.

Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose published a list in August targeting 235,000 voters the state says are inactive, meaning voters who have not voted for the past six years that the state was unable to contact.

The list of voters was fraught with errors. The secretary of state’s office announced hundreds of changes to the list almost immediately. Two weeks later, voting rights groups discovered that 4,000 people had been erroneously added to the list, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The paper reported days later that another 1,600 people had been incorrectly added to the list because of an error by a software vendor.

The list also included thousands of people who were apparently unaware they had been targeted for removal, even though the state is required to attempt to contact them. More than 11,800 people included on the list have updated their voter registrations so they won’t be canceled, HuffPost reported.

Ohio removes people from the rolls if the state suspects they have moved or died. The list includes people who have not responded to an address confirmation mailing and people who have not voted or participated in any board of elections activity for six years. But voting rights groups say the purge lists are filled with errors that could disenfranchise thousands of legitimate voters. Ohio has already purged 265,000 voter registrations this year, and at least 17 million people have been purged from voter rolls around the country since the 2016 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Ohio Democratic Party sued to try to stop the state from carrying out the purge, citing the repeated errors on the list. LaRose’s office argued that the errors had been fixed and that the office was taking additional steps to contact people on the list. A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Democrats’ lawsuit seeking to halt the purge, despite acknowledging problems with past purges. The Supreme Court last year ruled that Ohio’s “supplemental process” that targets voters it suspects have moved or died was legal despite putting eligible voters at risk.

“As we prepare to finalize this process, we’re confident that there has never been a more intensive review of Ohio’s voting rolls, and we’re satisfied that the proper safeguards are in place to ensure any eligible voter will have the opportunity to have their voice heard,” LaRose spokeswoman Maggie Sheehan said in a statement to HuffPost.

But Democrats say that the dubious process all but guarantees that eligible voters will be removed.

“Someone asked me on a call today, ‘Well, what’s the margin of error that’s acceptable in this purging?’ And I said, this isn’t a poll. This is voting. You should not ever be limiting people from the rolls by government error,” Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper told WOSU.

The party’s executive director, Greg Beswick, told Cleveland.com that it was “disturbing” that LaRose planned to go forward with the purge despite admitting to “errors that resulted in thousands of Ohio voters being improperly … and unlawfully flagged to be removed from the rolls.”

“The specter that any active voters are purged due to government error, and no fault of their own, is unacceptable,” he added.

With no legal recourse left, voting rights groups like All Voting is Local are scrambling to contact as many people as possible to encourage them to update their registrations.

“Thousands of voters at risk of being purged have already alerted the state that they are still very much alive and wish to vote,” Mick Brickner, the group’s Ohio state director, said in a statement. “This shows how deeply broken the purge process is and the need for voter registration modernization now.”

no lnx

CLEVELAND.COM

Did Ohio secretary of state hopeful Frank LaRose change his tune on high-profile voting issues?

By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com | Posted October 09, 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio-Republican secretary of state nominee Frank LaRose's recent statements on some major Ohio voting issues have changed compared to his public stances years or even months ago.

During an endorsement interview with the cleveland.com/Plain Dealer editorial board late last month, LaRose, a state senator from Hudson, offered thoughts on issues such as purging state voting rolls and automatic voter registration that are different from what he's previously said on those matters.

Kathleen Clyde, LaRose's Democratic opponent, was quick to issue a release accusing LaRose of "political opportunism" for "switching positions on key issues." LaRose's campaign manager denies that he's flip-flopped, though he yields that LaRose's statements on some issues in recent days are different from what he's said in the past.

Here's more on how LaRose's comments today have changed from what he's said in the past, as well as what LaRose's campaign manager, Grant Shaffer, said when cleveland.com asked him to explain the discrepancies.

In addition, we'll explore two additional issues where Clyde's accusations of flip-flopping are on much thinner ground.

Purging Ohio's voting rolls

What the issue is: In Ohio, residents who don't cast a ballot for two years are mailed a "confirmation notice" by the state. If a voter doesn't respond to the notice for four years after that and doesn't vote, he or she is automatically removed from the state's list of registered voters (and therefore must re-register to vote again). Voting-rights groups sued, claiming such a system violated federal election laws.But in June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Ohio's purging process was proper.

What LaRose said before: LaRose's past comments suggested -- though not overtly -- that he was supportive of Ohio's voter-purge process. "You would have to sort of sit out democracy entirely for six years before you're removed from the voter rolls," he said in January. "That's a long time." And, he said in a statement after the ruling: "Today's Supreme Court decision will allow the secretary of state to continue carrying out his constitutional responsibility, in accordance with Ohio law, to maintain accurate voter rolls."

What LaRose says now: "I don't support the current process. I think that we can make it better," he said during the editorial board meeting. LaRose suggested extending the time period before an Ohioan is removed from voting rolls beyond six years, or perhaps issuing more warning notices to inactive voters.

What LaRose's campaign manager says: Shaffer said "there's some truth" to the claim that LaRose has only recently started talking about how Ohio's voter-purge law should be changed. But Shaffer said that in the past, LaRose didn't express support for the current process - just that he agreed that the system is proper. "I don't know if he's ever said, 'This is great and I want to do it.' He said, 'That's the law,'" Shaffer said. "Now he's saying, 'Now I have an idea about how we can fix the law.'"

Automatic voter registration

What the issue is: Clyde has introduced legislation that would automatically register eligible Ohioans to vote who turn 18 while in high school, get a driver's license or state ID, or are in enrolled in a number of government assistance programs.

What LaRose said before: Automatic voter registration is "not something that we should be pursuing in Ohio now," he told the Akron Beacon Journal in 2016.

What LaRose says now: "I like the idea of automating the registration process, and I'm working on my own version of that," he said last month during a Columbus Dispatch podcast (his quote is at the 18:35 mark). LaRose added, though, that Clyde's bill has "some significant flaws," including that it wouldn't redact the personal information of domestic-violence victims from publicly accessible voter records.

What LaRose's campaign manager says: Shaffer denies that LaRose has changed his position. He says that LaRose favors creating of some sort of automated registration system in Ohio. But as LaRose noted both in the 2016 article and the 2018 podcast, he only supports such a system if it has an opt-out clause for people who don't want to register. Automatically registering every Ohio teenager on their 18th birthday, Shaffer said, could create hassles, as many might soon leave home for college, to join the military, or for other reasons.

Other voting issues

Ohio House

Kathleen Clyde and her campaign argue that there are additional voting issues that LaRose has flip-flopped on: specifically, same-day voter registration and pre-paid postage for absentee ballots. In each case, however, LaRose makes a reasonable argument about why he hasn't been inconsistent. Here are the points (and counter-points) made by each side - which, if nothing else, illustrate the different priorities Clyde and LaRose would have as Ohio secretary of state.

Same-day voter registration

Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

What the issue is: Right now, Ohioans can't vote in an election unless they register at least 30 days beforehand. But 15 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, allow residents to register and vote on the same day.

LaRose's alleged flip-flop: "I support same-day voter registration if it's done in a thoughtful way," LaRose said during the editorial board meeting. But Clyde's campaign noted that LaRose sponsored the bill that eliminated Ohio's "Golden Week," a 5-day period when Ohio's voter-registration period overlapped with the state's early-voting period, allowing Ohioans to register and vote on the same day.

LaRose's explanation: LaRose told the editorial board that he opposed "Golden Week" because it was a "haphazard" way of allowing same-day registration. He said he would support a same-day registration system like the one New Hampshire has, in which residents enter one line to register to vote, then have their name called by an election worker to get a ballot.

Pre-paid postage for mail-in ballots

Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

What the issue is: Whether counties should pay return postage for absentee ballots sent by mail, rather than requiring voters to buy their own stamps to send in their ballots.

LaRose's alleged flip-flop: Last month, LaRose introduced a bill that would require county boards of election to pay return postage for absentee ballots. The secretary of state's office would then have to reimburse counties for the roughly $1 million cost. Clyde said LaRose's proposal was at odds with his support for a bill in 2013 that banned individual county elections boards from prepaying return postage for ballots.

LaRose's explanation: LaRose said he voted for the 2013 bill not because he opposes postage-paid mail-in ballots, but because he felt it was unfair for richer counties to cover their voters' postage while voters in poorer counties had to buy their own stamps. LaRose said his new bill would ensure that voters in all of Ohio's 88 counties would have their postage covered.

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Frank LaRose (born April 18, 1979) is an American politician. He currently serves as Ohio's Secretary of State after serving two terms as a member of the Ohio State Senatefrom Ohio's 27th Senate district which includes Wayne County as well as portions of Stark and Summit Counties. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and military career

LaRose was born at Akron City Hospital and grew up in Copley Township in Summit County, Ohio.^[4] His father was the co-owner of a beverage distributor.^[5] He has four siblings.^[5]

According to his official biography, he is an Eagle Scout.^[4] He graduated from Copley High School and enlisted in the United States Army, serving in the 101st Airborne Division and later the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets). He received the Bronze Star for his service as a sergeant first class in Iraq with the U.S. Special Forces.^[4]

After returning from Iraq, LaRose married Lauren Kappa and graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Affairs and a minor in Business Administration.^[4]

November 2010 Ohio Senate Election

LaRose ran for Ohio Senate in 2010 and defeated the Democratic nominee, Summit County Councilman Frank Comunale, in the 27th District, a Democratic-leaning district.^[6]LaRose edged out Comunale 56.5% to 43.5%.^[7][6]

Ohio Senate (2011-2018)

LaRose was sworn into the Ohio Senate in 2011. Governing magazine named him one of "12 State Legislators to Watch in 2014."^[8]

LaRose voted for Senate Bill 5 which reduced collective bargaining rights for public workers (including police, firefighters, and teachers).^[10][11] LaRose added that he agonized over the decision.^[12][13] After the bill, which passed by a narrow margin, was repealed by a public referendum, LaRose said, "The voters have made it clear that this was not the course they wished to take."^[13] In 2018, LaRose said, "As I look back on (my yes vote on SB5) am I confident I did the right thing? Not necessarily."^[10]

LaRose voted for the Congressional Redistricting plan (HB 369)^[14] that is now under legal challenge for gerrymandering.^[15]

LaRose won re-election for his seat in 2014.

LaRose sponsored a bill to eliminate six days of early voting (SB 238), and prohibit county Board of Elections from sending out unsolicited absentee voting applications.^[16] In 2016, he voted for SB 296, introduced by Rep. Bill Seitz which would require a monetary payment in order to extend voting hours at any vote center for any reason.^[17]

During his Senate tenure, LaRose supported every abortion restriction proposed.^[18] In a now deleted page on his website (https://www.franklarose.com/100-pro-life-voting-record/) but still indexed on Google, LeRose heralds his "100% pro-life voting record".

larose deleted anti-abortion webpage

His 2016, his legislative aide, Jessica Koehler, joined Ohio's Right to Life as the Director of Legislative Affairs.[19]

LaRose voted for SB 72 in 2011, a "late-term abortion" ban, which only affects 1% of abortions,^[20] and provided no exception for the mother's health.^[21] This was reintroduced as HB 78, which lowered the ban from 24 to 20 weeks, but allowed for an exemption for the woman's health.^[22] In 2015, he voted for SB 127, a 20-week abortion ban, and cosponsored HB 294, which prohibited public funds for abortion services.

In 2016, he supported HB 493, a so-called heartbeat bill, even though similar bills have been unanimously blocked by the judiciary in several states.^[23] In 2017, he voted for SB 28, which would require the burial or cremation of fetal remains, identical to a similar bill which has been blocked in Texas.^[24]

In 2017, He sponsored legislation to prevent women from having abortions after a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.^[25] He also voted for SB 145, which bans certain abortion procedures.

Candidacy for Ohio Secretary of State, 2018

On May 17, 2017, LaRose announced that he would run for Ohio Secretary of State in the 2018 election. LaRose defeated Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde in the general election 50.9% to 46.7%.^[26]

Early during the campaign, LaRose indicated that he would continue a policy of purging voters from voter rolls if those voters had not voted for six consecutive years.^[27] Later during the campaign, LaRose said that he did not support the policy.^[28] In 2016, LaRose opposed automatic voter registration, but said during the campaign that he supported automatic voter registration.^[28] While in Ohio Senate, LaRose sponsored legislation to eliminate Ohio's "Golden Week" (a five-day period when Ohioans could register and vote on the same day); during the 2018 campaign, LaRose said he favored a different same-day registration system.^[28]

During the campaign, Clyde supported a shift to a uniform paper ballot system in Ohio; LaRose said he favored the current system where there is arequirement for a paper trail for ballots but all counties are allowed to use their own machines.^[29] Clyde called for the adoption of postal voting to replace early in-person voting; LaRose supported the existing system which is a combination of early in-person voting and postal voting.^[29]

Serving as Ohio's Secretary of State

On January 12, 2019, LaRose was sworn in to serve as Ohio's 51st Secretary of State, a four-year term.

Personal life

According to his official biography, LaRose lives in Hudson, Ohio with his wife, Lauren and their three daughters.^[4]

Secretary LaRose & the Office - Ohio Secretary of State

https://www.sos.state.oh.us › secretary-office

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Frank LaRose

https://www.franklarose.com

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