Current:Home > NewsDisputes over access to the vote intensify as Ohioans begin to cast ballots -WealthGrow Network
Disputes over access to the vote intensify as Ohioans begin to cast ballots
View
Date:2025-04-12 23:35:00
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Several disputes over voter rights in Ohio were unresolved Tuesday as the state began accepting early ballots in this fall’s election for president, a key U.S. Senate race and a redistricting measure.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose had not yet responded to Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, which notified him last week that voters were being systematically removed from the rolls in several counties as a result of third-party challenges. The advocacy groups alleged the actions violate provisions of the National Voting Registration Act.
LaRose’s office said he had cast a tie vote keeping most of the challenged voters in one of the counties, Delaware, on the rolls. He is reviewing claims in three additional counties.
National groups allied with former President Donald Trump have been facilitating these citizen-powered efforts to systematically challenge the legitimacy of large numbers of voter registrations. LaRose praised their efforts and believes accurate voter rolls are a core tenet of any well-run election, said spokesman Dan Lusheck.
“Ohio runs some of the most transparent elections in the nation, and we are proud of that,” Lusheck said.
Meanwhile, minority Democrats at the Ohio Statehouse carried on questioning LaRose’s removal of 155,000 voter registration records in August. He has said the legally required actions targeted registration records of inactive, noncitizen, deceased or otherwise ineligible voters.
On Monday, state Rep. Elliot Forhan, a Cleveland-area Democrat, filed a formal challenge asking the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to restore 741 voters in the county — a Democratic stronghold potentially pivotal in U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s tight reelection bid against Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno.
State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, another Democrat from the Cleveland area, sent a letter to LaRose on Tuesday reiterating her earlier request for additional records involving the office’s removal processes. Her office uncovered more than 1,000 wrongfully removed voters in Cuyahoga County alone with the help of previously released records, she said, and requested a third-party audit.
“If Frank LaRose isn’t going to ensure all eligible voters have the right to vote in Ohio, the least he can do is give me the public records, so I can do it for him,” Sweeney said in a statement.
LaRose’s office had no immediate comment.
Also yet to be resolved is the Ohio Democratic Party’s September lawsuit challenging a LaRose directive that prevents people who are helping voters with disabilities drop off their ballots from using drop boxes.
The secretary issued his order after a federal judge struck down portions of Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law in July, allowing more classes of people to help voters with disabilities deliver their ballots. It affirmed the helpers could do so, but added requirements that they drop the ballots inside board of elections offices and sign a form vouching for their identities.
LaRose called the move a precaution against ballot harvesting. Democrats said that it is illegal.
Three of the Ohio Supreme Court’s seven justices — two Democrats and a Republican, all seeking office this fall — have recused themselves in the case. A fourth was asked to, but refused.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
- Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
The Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party said Tuesday they have moved to intervene in the case.
“Secretary LaRose has taken critical steps to safeguard Ohio’s elections, but once again Democrats are trying to dismantle commonsense protections that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” national committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “This is yet another poorly veiled attempt to eliminate ballot safeguards and interfere right before the election — and we will stop them.”
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Storms hit South with tornadoes, dump heavy snow in Midwest
- Virginia General Assembly set to open 2024 session with Democrats in full control of the Capitol
- In $25M settlement, North Carolina city `deeply remorseful’ for man’s wrongful conviction, prison
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- X Corp. has slashed 30% of trust and safety staff, an Australian online safety watchdog says
- Coach Erik Spoelstra reaches record-setting extension with Miami Heat, per report
- Last undefeated men's college basketball team falls as Iowa State sinks No. 2 Houston
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Maryland lawmakers to wrestle with budgeting, public safety, housing as session opens
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Ronnie Long, North Carolina man who spent 44 years in prison after wrongful conviction, awarded $25M settlement
- All the movies you'll want to see in 2024, from 'Mean Girls' to a new 'Beverly Hills Cop'
- 'This is goodbye': YouTuber Brian Barczyk enters hospice for pancreatic cancer
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- US defends its veto of call for Gaza ceasefire while Palestinians and others demand halt to fighting
- Virginia General Assembly set to open 2024 session with Democrats in full control of the Capitol
- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds focuses on education, health care in annual address
Recommendation
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
Astrobotic says its Peregrine lunar lander won't make planned soft landing on the moon due to propellant leak
Mahomes, Stafford, Flacco: Who are the best QBs in this playoff field? Ranking all 14
High school teacher gave student top grades in exchange for sex, prosecutors say
What to watch: O Jolie night
Boy George reveals he's on Mounjaro for weight loss in new memoir: 'Isn't everyone?'
South Korean lawmakers back ban on producing and selling dog meat
Virginia General Assembly set to open 2024 session with Democrats in full control of the Capitol