Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Ohio Capital Journal’s Marty Schladen took Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to task, highlighting how he refuses to call out Republicans and their false claims of voter fraud. LaRose has consistently remained silent when Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans lie about the election. On Thursday, LaRose once again failed to condemn former President Donald Trump for purporting baseless voter fraud claims, because Frank LaRose is scared of a primary and is only looking out for himself.

LaRose continues to try to have it both ways as he claims the 2020 election was a success while also pushing regressive legislation that directly attacks the methods of voting that helped make the 2020 election successful.

“Frank LaRose is a partisan hack who is more concerned about his own political career than doing the job he was elected to do. As his fellow Republicans continue to lie about the 2020 election, LaRose is hiding behind a spokesman who says he doesn’t want to ‘get dragged in.’ If LaRose refuses to grow a spine and call out Republicans when they lie about the election, he doesn’t deserve the job,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

You can read more from the Ohio Capital Journal here and below:

• A spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said the office didn’t want to get dragged in last week when a fellow Republican echoed former President Donald Trump’s baseless fraud claims and called for an audit of Ohio’s 2020 election.
• But the state’s top election official won’t condemn Trump or say whether he’ll support the former president if he runs again in 2024. And despite his assertion that “it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in Ohio,” LaRose wouldn’t comment on restrictions that forced large-county voters to wait hours to cast early ballots last year.
• Trump has lied relentlessly about his 7 million-vote loss in the 2020 election. His challenges have failed in more than 60 court proceedings and repeated reviews of the vote in states where the contest was close have upheld the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s win.
• Critics fear that the real purpose of all the “audits” is to delegitimize elections in the eyes of tens of millions of Americans even though actual evidence of substantial voter fraud is vanishingly rare. False fraud claims can also be used to justify restrictions on voting that would benefit Republicans, they say.
• Not to be outdone by other GOP politicians seeking Trump’s approval, Mandel upped the ante last week.
• “Not only should we audit the vote in AZ, WI, MI, PA, GA — we must audit the vote in all 50 states,” he tweeted. “Even in states like OHIO where Trump won by massive margins, he probably actually won by even larger margins were it not for the Democrat cheating.”
• LaRose’s office said it didn’t want to be dragged into the matter when Mandel was asked on Twitter if he was claiming that the secretary of state had a hand in running a crooked election. And, to be clear, there’s been no evidence of substantial fraud in Ohio’s 2020 general election, which Trump won by eight percentage points. 
• Despite all the false claims attacking the integrity of American elections, LaRose’s office wouldn’t say this week whether the secretary of state voted for Trump in 2020. And, after all of Trump’s subsequent lies about how he really won in a landslide, LaRose’s spokesman wouldn’t say if the secretary of state planned to vote for Trump if he runs again in 2024.
• In addition, LaRose limited the number of ballot drop boxes available in 2020, when many were anxious to avoid polling places because of the pandemic. 
• LaRose claimed that he didn’t think he had the legal authority to allow more than one box per county. But earlier this year, after multiple judges said he did have the authority, LaRose maintained the limitation, saying it’s an issue for the legislature to decide.
• The secretary of state has taken other steps that could be seen as thwarting the will of the voters.

Waiting On Congressional Maps

On September 30, the legislature officially missed its first constitutional deadline to draw new district maps for Ohio’s 15 congressional seats, sending the responsibility over to the 7-member, GOP-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission. After the rushed, undemocratic process that we saw in September’s legislative map-drawing process, it’s important to urge commissioners to propose maps and schedule public hearings now — and not at the last minute or behind closed doors.

So this week, we’re asking activists to call on members of the Redistricting Commission to adopt a Congressional district map and hold hearings ASAP.

Another important policy debate this week will happen just down the street from the Statehouse at the Ohio Board of Education. At its Wednesday meeting, the Board may cave to pressure from a loud but small minority of Ohioans who want them to vote to rescind its 2020 statement condemning racism and advancing equity. Take a moment to contact Board of Education members and tell them you support equity and inclusion.

Not many of the bills we are watching are up for hearings this week. The only committee on our radar is House Government Oversight which will be hearing two bills loosening Ohio’s gun laws including a planned vote on HB227, allowing the permit-less carrying of concealed weapons in Ohio. Another bill on the agenda would prohibit officials from removing armed bystanders near the site of volatile protests.

A full run-down of the hearings we’re watching this week as well as some notable new bill introductions can be found below.

New Legislation This Week

Below are the bills introduced since our last newsletter that we are watching. You can keep an eye on all the bills we’re tracking here.

Senate Bill 248 (Antani) – Moment of Silence – require rather than permit school districts to provide a moment of silence each school day.

House Bill 441 (Wiggam, Cutrona) – Censorship – relates to the censorship of users’ expressions by interactive computer services and social media platforms.

House Bill 446 (Skindell) – Universal Health Care – to establish and operate the Ohio Health Care Plan to provide universal health care coverage to all Ohio residents.