Ohio State Secretary Frank LaRose (R) announced Wednesday that the state in the state of the ballot box is obstructing the offering of more than one dropbox for completed absentee ballots in November.
Three weeks ago, LaRose Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) asked for a legal opinion on the question of whether additional ballots were allowed under state law. LaRose said Wednesday that he has yet to receive the opinion, claiming it is too late to make changes to how Ohio will handle the presidential election this year.
“What I decided was instead of waiting for ongoing legal analysis, was to go ahead and say we will not allow any more dropboxes for these elections,” LaRose said at a news conference Wednesday. “With less than three months to go until election day, I do not think it’s time to change the way we did things here in Ohio and add new dropboxes and questions about its validity.”
Early voting in Ohio begins Oct. 6, and the election is Nov. 3. Voters in Ohio have no excuse to request an absentee ballot, and under the CARES Act, each of Ohio’s 88 counties is required to provide a secure drop-down list for completed ballots and ballot application forms outside of their general election board.
Democrats and suffrage activists have called for more dropboxes in community centers and have accused LaRose of running in an election that is expected to see increased interest in voting via mail-in because of concerns about the coronavirus.
“This has nothing to do with the legislature, which LaRose likes to blame for everything he does not want to do,” Ohio Pepper chairman David Pepper said on Twitter.
“This is his decision to limit dropboxes to one per province. It is a terrible decision, completely ignored without voter security, “he added.
This has nothing to do with the legislature, which likes to blame LaRose for everything he does not want to do.
This is his decision to limit dropboxes to one per province.
It is a terrible decision, completely ignored without voter security. https://t.co/VSfgQqsciS
– David Pepper (@DavidPepper) August 12, 2020
LaRose argued that adding additional dropboxes would invite lawsuits – like one filing the Trump campaign against Pennsylvania – that would slow down the process of preparing for the election.
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