LaRose issues statement regarding activist lawsuit
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose released the following statement in response to an activist lawsuit, orchestrated by the law firm of national partisan operative Marc Elias, attempting to strip important protections that prevent noncitizens from registering to vote in Ohio:
“Both federal law and the Ohio Constitution prohibit noncitizens from voting. But now dark money groups represented by D.C. operatives are challenging a law that prevents noncitizens from registering to vote at the BMV. It’s common sense that only U.S. citizens should be on our voter rolls. I won’t apologize for, or back down from the work we do to ensure the integrity of our voter rolls. We will win this case – just like we’ve fought off the other baseless actions that such groups have brought against us.”
Background:
On Friday, Aug. 22, Elias’ law firm orchestrated a baseless lawsuit challenging Ohio’s ability to verify citizenship before offering individuals voter registration at the BMV.
This same law firm filed a similar lawsuit against Wyoming just a few months ago. They already lost that case, which was dismissed by a federal court.
"This is just the latest attempt by activists to cause chaos in Ohio’s election system," LaRose said. "They continuously force their bad policies through the courts instead of through legislation. The same firm is representing special interests challenging Ohio’s ban on foreign contributions to state ballot issue campaigns."
Ohio is regarded as the national standard for both accessible and secure elections. During his administration, Secretary LaRose championed successful initiatives to ensure noncitizens are not registered or voting in Ohio elections, including standing up an Election Integrity Unit to conduct professional investigations into election violations.
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