-- The Little Priest Tribal College unveiled its monumental $6 million Louis LaRose memorial building this afternoon marking a new chapter for students and the community Over two hundred people attended the event -- The Little Priest Tribal College unveiled its monumental $6 million Louis LaRose memorial building this afternoon where public tours highlighted the project's potential impact and the majority of the buildings are old," said Little Priest Tribal College President Manoj Patil we wanted to construct a contemporary state of the art science facility and promote STEM education in a three floor IT building.” This is a historic occasion because we have doubled our property valuation from a current $6 million to $12 million by building one building." This is only the start of many buildings to update and build They recently broke ground on a 1.3 million dollar carpentry building and have plans to build a 10 acre campus in the next 10 years Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose presented the senior students with more information on the voting registration process MARIETTA — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose visited Marietta High School on Thursday to encourage graduating seniors to become registered voters Seniors at the high school were given the opportunity to participate in a mock student vote run by the program Grads Vote Ohio a statewide initiative with the goal to prepare high school graduates for the voter registration process and participation voter registration packets are distributed to high schools in Ohio to provide future voters with more information LaRose has visited high schools in Ohio to speak with students and help them engage in a mock vote experience “All of these students are either 18 already or will soon be turning 18 so we want to remind them that part of what’s in their future very soon is the ability to be part of the team that runs elections,” said LaRose “They’ll get that experience on how it works but at a bare minimum they should be voters.” Seniors at Marietta High School cast their ballot at the mock student vote in the high school auditorium on Thursday Partnering with the Washington County Board of Elections the high school auditorium was packed with participating students and a row of voting booths for the mock vote that took place Thursday afternoon The students voted on the ballot which consisted of three questions: * What should the official restaurant of Ohio be The ballot consisted of three questions that students were to vote on using systems provided by the Washington County Board of Elections Each student voted at a booth and cast their ballot which earned them a voter sticker The exercise was meant to show the students how the voting process works and what they can expect when they vote in official elections “This demonstration showed them how easy it works and there’s no reason to be intimidated by it because it’s pretty simple,” said LaRose LaRose spoke to the students about the importance of voting and spoke on the personal experiences he had when he was their age and became a registered voter That means we can mail a ballot to your home and you can sit there at your own kitchen table and vote your ballot and then mail it back to us,” said LaRose Students were able to ask questions about anything related to the voting process They asked questions such as “how do I vote if I go to college in another state?” or “where do I go to update my voter registration?” Grads Vote Ohio is a statewide program that helps graduating high school seniors learn more about voter registration the votes were in and he explained how ballots are counted The answers to the questions were revealed and the students fully engaged in the activity “As I was handing them their stickers they were like ‘yeah that was easy’ and I reminded them that next year instead of voting for their favorite country music singer member of Congress etc.” said LaRose Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com Marietta High School seniors participated in the mock student vote on the stage in the auditorium Each student lined up to cast their ballot and earn a voter sticker Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose demonstrated how the state breaks a tie by flipping a coin Two high school seniors participated in the exercise with LaRose Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose answered questions from the students and audience on Thursday about voting in the state of Ohio | https://www.newsandsentinel.com | 519 Juliana St. We have the address for the funeral home & the family on file If you're not happy with your card we'll send a replacement or refund your money The family of John Melvin LaRose created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories Made with love by funeralOne Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose poses for a portrait in Washington Ohio (AP) — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Thursday that he is running for state auditor in 2026 continuing the recent game of musical chairs among high-ranking Ohio Republicans and I’ve had a lot of encouragement from across Ohio to consider serving in this important office,” LaRose said in a statement first provided to The Associated Press LaRose said Ohio has set a “gold standard in trustworthy and accessible elections” under his watch we can bring that same focus on transparency efficiency and accountability to every government office in this state.” is the last of Ohio’s five term-limited statewide executive officeholders to make his future plans known Receive emails when new obituariesare published to our website Each of our funeral homes offers a complete range of services in tastefully decorated Professionally trained and licensed staff members stand ready to 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Upgrade now. Law enforcement agencies are investigating after a "powdery substance" was delivered Sunday night to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose Jr.'s home in Upper Arlington a spokesperson for the Ohio Secretary of State's office confirmed that the letter with the powdery material along with a note of a "threatening nature," was delivered to the LaRose family's home "After coming into contact with the contents of the letter (LaRose) notified his security staff and took appropriate actions to protect his family from any immediate harm," Lusheck said in a prepared release and federal law enforcement agents responded to the home along with hazmat and bomb detection units The material was collected for further investigation LaRose has received several personal threats of physical harm in recent months resulting in additional security around him a Columbus Division of Fire Hazardous Materials team and a large Columbus police presence responded about 3:20 p.m to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce building at 34 S just north of Broad Street and across from the Ohio Statehouse The Downtown building was formerly owned by The Dispatch and the newspaper's iconic sign remains on top There were unconfirmed reports that a powdery substance was delivered there but Columbus police and fire referred The Dispatch's inquiries to the FBI which did not return a message left seeking information A spokesperson for the chamber also did not return a message left by The Dispatch smeighan@dispatch.com The musical chairs among term-limited Republican officeholders continues as another announces his candidacy for the 2026 statewide election Secretary of State Frank LaRose is the latest GOP officeholder to make a move launching a campaign to serve as Ohio's next auditor of state "A lot of people have asked me to consider this next step," LaRose said in a video posted on X LaRose has become one of the most visible statewide elected officials, leading the campaign for the plan to require 60% voter approval for constitutional amendments in August 2023, and against the reproductive rights amendment in November 2023. He was on the losing side of both of those issues. But he backed the winning "no" side in last fall's vote to replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission with a 15-member independent commission. LaRose is the only Republican in the race for auditor, and none have declared for treasurer so far. FORECASTOhio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announces bid for state auditorby WSYX Staff COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose officially announced his campaign for Ohio Auditor of State on Thursday and accountability in state and local governments “I have a plan to help them more openly and efficiently manage our tax dollars but also to hold them accountable when they don’t,” he said LaRose vows to implement operational efficiency standards similar to those used by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency LaRose also praised incumbent Ohio Auditor Keith Faber for his conservative leadership and intends to collaborate with Faber to continue efforts to identify fraud LaRose will continue his duties as Secretary of State maintaining Ohio's reputation for election excellence and supporting Ohio entrepreneurs in starting new businesses Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application 2024 to honor the memory of Valerie Larose Clark who passed away peacefully in her home in Holliday Utah.    She was a kind hearted and remarkable woman who touched the lives of so many Her joyful laugh spread to everyone around her She was always helping those in need.    Valerie enjoyed taking walks She loved being around family and friends laughing and watching her favorite TV show the view       Her loss has left a profound emptiness in her family Julieanne Clark and Johny Wayne Clark and Amy Clark She was a Grandmother to 6 amazing grandchildren       She was the strongest and kindest person She will be forever missed    Funeral services will be held on Tuesday  There will be a viewing from 10-10:45 that morning.    Burial will be in the Ft Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Ohio’s secretary of state said his family was shaken but uninjured by a threatening letter containing a powdery substance mailed to his home Frank LaRose said he returned to his Upper Arlington home from a weekend getaway Sunday night he said his wife took their three daughters upstairs to settle them in for the evening and discovered a threatening letter that contained a powdery substance Police and a hazmat crew responded to the scene LaRose said the children were sent to a neighbor's home while authorities dealt with the threatening letter “They told us they thought it was a benign substance and then the lab test came back the next day and confirmed it.” No one was hurt and the family returned to the home later Sunday night LaRose said he doesn't know what the substance was But he said he's concerned about the incident My first concern is about my family and three little girls had to get rousted out of bed at 10:30 at night because somebody thought that was the way to make a political statement This is not the first threat made against LaRose He said he received other threatening letters before the election a vehicle belonging to LaRose was stolen from the open garage at his home It was later found parked around the corner from his home and a state ID badge were found inside the car but the police report stated an American Express credit card was missing the Ohio Chamber of Commerce reported a suspicious package at its downtown Columbus office resulting in emergency crews checking out the building passed away unexpectedly at his home in Walterboro to Leland and the late Judy (Burns) LaRose at Beaufort Naval Hospital in South Carolina Brian grew up traveling the country with his family alongside his sister he embraced the adventurous and resilient spirit that defined his early years.  Brian graduated from Maryville High School in Maryville he enlisted in the US Army Reserves as a Veterinary Technician where he developed a passion for service and a commitment to his country he proudly graduated Warrant Officer Candidate School and US Army Flight School in 1989 as a Chief Warrant Officer and Medevac Pilot Brian served his country with distinction for 13 years including a tour in the Gulf War during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield Brian retired at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CWO2) His military career reflected his unwavering patriotism Brian applied his resilience and resourcefulness to a variety of industries He continued his education and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from the Upper Iowa University in 1996 Brian’s ability to tackle challenges with creativity and persistence earned him admiration and respect wherever he worked He became widely known as a “fixer” in a wide array of chain retail stores Brian expressed his love of music by competing in country music contests where his rich voice and heartfelt performances resonated with audiences in the Midwest region he shifted his focus to worship and praise music becoming an active member of multiple church worship teams His vocal talents brought comfort and joy to congregations leaving a lasting impression on all who heard him sing Brian found joy in the outdoors; training dogs and horses pouring his hard work ethic and creativity into remodeling a myriad of homes.  SC; his five children; Adam LaRose (Jenna) of Kalispell He leaves behind a large extended family of aunts and cousins who will miss him dearly.  Brian’s life was a testament to dedication and compassion for his faith and fellow man and his steadfast example of kindness and service will remain an enduring inspiration to all who knew him He will be remembered fondly and missed deeply by all whose lives he touched.  A celebration of Brian’s life will be held at the Bram Funeral Home  The burial with full military honors will follow in St The family will greet friends from Noon until service time on Sunday at the funeral home the family requests donations be made to the Javelan chapter of the First Responder Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing service dogs to enrich the lives of military veterans (specifically with PTSD) enabling independence and life-changing support https://firstrespondersfoundation.org/donate/.  Herndon and Sons Funeral Chapels and Crematory Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre announced narcotics agents made an arrest in a drug trafficking investigation Narcotics agents had opened an investigation into Rousse for suspected drug trafficking they received intelligence that a shipment of marijuana was expected to be delivered in the southern area of Lafourche Parish agents located the truck involved in the delivery and they observed Rousse attempt to collect the shipment from the truck Agents seized this shipment which was approximately 120 pounds of marijuana They also obtained a warrant to search Rousse’s residence There they found additional evidence including drug paraphernalia and approximately $34,000 in cash Rousse was booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex in Thibodaux He was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana transactions involving proceeds from controlled dangerous substance activity and he is also being held for Louisiana Probation and Parole due to a probation violation Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email He has served as sheriff of Lafourche Parish for over 30 years and has more than 40 years of law enforcement experience Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has appointed Melanie Leneghan to the Delaware County Elections Board despite objections from fellow Republicans about her past conduct and qualifications for the job Both she and Democrat Peg Watkins will be sworn in on Tuesday at the board offices at 2079 Route 23 The Dispatch reported earlier this month that the Delaware County Republican Executive Committee had nominated Leneghan for one of two Republican seats on the four-member Several fellow Republicans criticized the committee for not sharing the vote count or naming others vying for the board seat And members of the party are still upset that several other candidates for the board seat were not considered An email to the Republican Central Committee from an anonymous group of members described a "lack of integrity apparent conflict of interest and damage to the Delaware County reputation cause by the drama" in Leneghan's selection describing it as "back room dealing." The email asks "how could (the executive committee) nominate an individual knowing that there are issues with her residency Among the main concerns is whether Leneghan lives in Delaware County She has since updated her voter registration to a home in the city of Delaware and her mailing address to a home in Galena The Dispatch previously reported that political strategists in all 88 Ohio counties, including those working for Leneghan, had set up political action committees using the names of their respective county Republican parties Mailings endorsing candidates implied that the county Republican Party had endorsed them when in many cases That story led to an Ohio law outlawing fake endorsements Leneghan called the PAC mailings "totally legitimate," saying that no one had successfully challenged them The Dispatch reported earlier this year that new Democrat member Watkins had spearheaded a campaign to fire a Democratic elections worker after questioning the worker's party loyalty for dating a Republican colleague who worked in the Delaware County Board of Elections offices Leneghan will join Republican Steve Cuckler and Democrats Watkins and Ed Helvey once sworn in Each member serves four-year terms with reappointment staggered by party every two years This story was updated to correct the name of the Delaware County Executive Committee Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has announced he will run for state auditor in 2026.  The bid puts LaRose among five term-limited statewide executive office holders playing a game of musical chairs in the 2026 elections LaRose is running for the seat of current State Auditor Keith Faber who has announced he will run to succeed Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost State Treasurer Robert Sprague also announced his bid for governor before switching to run for Secretary of State LaRose said he was focused on issues at the Ohio state level “I've enjoyed being Secretary of State for the last six years I enjoy public service,” he said in an interview with Spectrum News countered that the former state senator and Army Green Beret does not have any auditing experience The Ohio Democratic Party said LaRose was only running for State Auditor because he came up short in last year’s Senate race—ultimately losing the GOP primary to Bernie Moreno LaRose was also not appointed to fill former Sen “It’s obvious that LaRose doesn’t actually want the job,” Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer wrote in a statement “Ohio voters have rejected LaRose over and over but he hasn’t gotten the message they’re sending loud and clear.” Meanwhile LaRose is already preparing to oversee a busy election season this and next year. The 2025 May election includes hundreds of local primaries and a ballot measure Jon Husted will face a special Senate race in addition to a gubernatorial race and LaRose’s own State Auditor race “This may seem counterintuitive because when we think about presidential elections and gubernatorial elections those are tend to be the big high turnout elections,” LaRose said in many ways are more complex because what you have is hundreds and hundreds of local races down at the precinct level LaRose is continuing his conservative agenda in administering elections, despite facing pushback for helping to enact one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country that resulted in more than 7,000 provisional ballots getting rejected in the 2024 elections LaRose applauded President Donald Trump’s recent rescinding of a Biden executive order for states to promote voter registration for citizens of all backgrounds “It was really meant to put federal government agencies into a role that they should have never been in doing I was part of a group of secretaries of state that sued the motion to block that So I was glad to see President Trump rescind that order.” The only Democrat running for statewide office in the 2026 election so far is Dr who has announced her candidacy for governor Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose heard concerns from local officials and business leaders who gathered in Mingo Junction on Thursday and stopped by the Toronto Fire Department to thank firefighters from multiple departments who extinguished a brush fire near the home of his regional coordinator a Republican who has declared his candidacy for state auditor in 2026 including Jefferson County Commissioner Jake Kleineke and Steubenville Second Ward Councilman Tracy McManamon at Hidden Acres Weddings and Events Center LaRose told the group the secretary of state’s office has two primary responsibilities: helping people to vote and helping new businesses to register with the state He said as the state’s chief election official he’s pushed for security and convenience in elections qualities he said need not be exclusive from each other LaRose said that’s supported by record voter turnouts for elections held since he was elected to the position in 2019 He said at a time when many government entities have been the victims of cyber-attacks the state’s county board of elections offices have been immune because of his office’s implementation of firewalls and other technology and training of election workers in safe practices LaRose said he’s proud that the state’s incorporation fee for businesses hasn’t risen in some time and remains the lowest among those in U.S He said his office usually is able to provide businesses with their articles of incorporation within 24 hours Former Jefferson County Commissioner Tom Gentile told LaRose that a common complaint among Jefferson County residents is that state officials aren’t concerned with their area LaRose encouraged Jefferson County officials to form delegations to meet with various state leaders at Ohio’s capital to express their needs and concerns He also suggested they “send good people to represent them.” it’s not unusual to see candidates campaigning in the state’s larger cities He suggested local residents “Pay attention to who comes (here.) Pay attention to who takes the time to be here.” LaRose said he sees the Ohio Valley as being “the next big success story,” of a magnitude of California’s Silicon Valley “It’s going to take a lot of hard work but it’s really possible for this area to become the next big economic development story,” he said LaRose said he welcomes the opportunity to uncover any fraudulent use of public funds and would like to use the office to ensure government operations are run in an efficient and modern manner He said he could function as a local Department of Government Efficiency LaRose said he would seek input from the staff members of government agencies and seek to streamline operations “by taking a thoughtful look at what we are trying to accomplish.” He added it may be time for some to adopt new equipment “Sometimes you need to invest money to save money,” said LaRose LaRose was told about a shortage of volunteers in the county’s fire departments resulting in a number closing and some sharing the same voluntary personnel It was suggested today’s more extensive training requirements and their costs are a deterrent to such volunteerism LaRose said state legislators may be able to establish incentives for local firefighters He followed up his visit in Mingo Junction with one to the Toronto Fire Department There he thanked firefighters from multiple local departments for their efforts over several hours in extinguishing a brush fire that spread across many acres near county Road 56 and township Roads 376 and 428 on March 20 LaRose said he learned of the fire from his regional coordinator Today's breaking news and more in your inbox BRIDGEPORT – A man is lodged at the Belmont County Jail on Monday after he allegedly fired a gunshot during a .. According to preliminary investigations by the Ohio State Highway Patrol WOODSFIELD — Local community members can participate in a spring car show while helping to raise funds for two .. | https://www.timesleaderonline.com | 200 S Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has referred to county prosecutors 597 cases he said involved voters who were unlawfully registered to vote he said 138 of them voted within the past year county prosecutors have prosecuted only a small number of those referred The head of the lobby group representing county prosecutors said most of those cases identified by LaRose cannot be prosecuted executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association said there’s good reason why county prosecutors have acted on only a handful of the cases passed to them by LaRose “These are referrals that often lack minimal evidence necessary to pursue charges or pursue an indictment let alone obtain a conviction," Tobin said Tobin said the referrals from LaRose's office often turn out to be nothing “Our experience with referrals from this secretary of state is that many of the cases he refers haven’t been properly investigated by his office or it is just a lead and when a prosecutor chases down the lead it turns out that there’s nothing there," Tobin said only a dozen of the hundreds of cases he has referred have resulted in enough evidence to bring charges a Columbus attorney who has handled a few cases of immigrants who were prosecuted said in most cases the problem isn't criminal intent “In none of the cases was it someone who was trying to get away with something," Mas said Tobin said county prosecutors have a lot on their plates “We take exception to the idea that prosecutors are not doing their job," Tobin said "I think the secretary of state just doesn’t like the outcome of our review and so now he is forum shopping by taking these cases to the attorney general.” LaRose is taking another action to get prosecution LaRose said there's plenty of evidence of wrongdoing in many of the cases he referred And he said he thinks county prosecutors have not made possible cases of voter fraud a top priority it comes down to the fact that county prosecutors only have limited bandwidth and they have chosen to prioritize their time going after rapists and murderers and drug dealers," LaRose said LaRose said county prosecutors have had plenty of time to take action on cases so he is doing something he said Ohio law allows; he has referred voter irregularity cases to Attorney General Dave Yost LaRose said that's allowable if action isn’t taken at the county level in a reasonable amount of time And LaRose said some of these cases are years old and charges should have been brought by now LaRose said he believes there's another reason prosecutors may have been dragging their feet - political considerations They are involved with local candidates that run for office and maybe do something wrong with their petitions or what have you so there can be political sensitivities but that Can the attorney general prosecute these cases LaRose said possible voter crimes must be prosecuted though he admits cases of it are "extremely rare." There are eight million registered voters in Ohio LaRose's office has raised questions about the validity of about 600 of them But he said all cases of voter wrongdoing should be prosecuted There are questions about whether Yost's office has the legal ability to prosecute many of these cases that were referred to him because they involve possible illegal registrations In the midst of preparing for an election that’s a week away Ohio’s Republican secretary of state is suing the US Department of Homeland Security to be allowed to use databases he said he's wanted access to for months The lawsuit hits as GOP candidates for president and US Senate have claimed that voting by non-citizens Secretary of State Frank LaRose said DHS allows states to access the Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements (SAVE) database to check citizenship records of Ohio voters But he said that requires knowing specific immigration verification numbers and also charges a fee “There are three other federal databases that DHS is not letting us use even though federal law says very clearly that they're required to make this data available to state level elections officials I've been trying for months to get access to this," LaRose said we will not allow you to use these federal databases that we believe they're required to let us use And so I was left with no choice but to file a lawsuit." LaRose said if he gets access to those three other DHS databases it won’t change anything for this election but he said now is the time to settle this "We will need this data after the election to see if anybody did in fact violate the law so that we can build a case and turn that over to county prosecutors or to the Ohio Attorney General for prosecution," LaRose said "But this data resulting in removing non-citizens before the 2024 election is of course unlikely or impracticable at this point.” Attorney General Dave Yost has joined a lawsuit filed by Virginia which removed voter registrations of 1,600 suspected noncitizens A federal law says voters can’t be removed within 90 days of an election to prevent qualified voters from being removed by mistake. LaRose noted that he referred nearly 600 cases of potential voter irregularities to county prosecutors in September he took them to Attorney General Dave Yost Last week Yost announced six indictments for illegal non-citizen voting but will dismiss one of those after the Cuyahoga County prosecutor said that accused voter has been dead for nearly two years Ken Blackwell is a former Ohio secretary of state News outlets – including this one – too often put a fat thumb on the scale of the electoral process many in the press actively covered up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline— until the presidential debate pulled back the curtain of truth It’s driving distrust. One recent Washington Post poll found that in six swing states 7 in 10 voters don’t’ trust the media to report on politics accurately and fairly Some Ohio reporters claim that the national media is different than local reporters They’re working hard to serve Ohioans goes the assertion which seeks to undo and blunt two major anti-gerrymandering reforms passed by 70% of Ohio voters shows the line between the partisan national press and a partisan Ohio media might be a narrower gulf than many want to admit out-of-state dark money-funded effort to pass Issue 1 The sentiments couldn’t have been more pro-Democrat than if the Ohio Democratic Party had written them Attack on Frank LaRose like flipping someone off in trafficThankfully there have been a few moments of honesty in the news media about Issue 1 The Toledo Blade editorial board admitted that the amendment would codify They wrote: “We have said that there is an element of gerrymandering in the Citizens Not Politicians amendment.” And the Dayton Daily News admitted that “November's Issue 1 would repeal two anti-gerrymandering amendments....” buying into and repeating the talking points funded by out-of-state special interests without even a little probing Our view: Ohio Supreme Court must protect voters from Secretary of State Frank LaRose's latest lie That’s not informative; it’s as substantive and moderate as flipping someone off in traffic Employing personal attacks means one thing – proponents of Issue 1 and their media allies are getting desperate Their argument falls apart completely if you dig even an inch down into their rationale but their district lines will break apart communities solely to manufacture districts that will elect more Democrats Thomas Suddes: Ohio Secretary of State is trying to flim-flam voters into acting against own interests me and our neighbors —will be on the hook for millions of dollars in costs including an unlimited pipeline of money to private lawyers to draw and litigate the lines It’s in the language – unlimited legal fees That makes about as much financial sense as filling a swimming pool with bottled water I’ll bet you’ll find a few of those salivating lawyers among Issue 1’s donors Speaking of the donors… Remember when the left loudly criticized out-of-state donations to last year’s ballot issues It’s “crickets” today as tens of millions pour into Ohio from liberal donors interested in making Ohio the mirror image of California seeking to con citizens into enshrining gerrymandering into the Ohio Constitution Under the current system which was authorized and placed in the state constitution by a vote of 70% of Ohio voters elected officials are held fully accountable and can be punished and removed if they abuse their power Just imagine – unaccountable bureaucrats doing whatever they like – and voters can’t do a darn thing about it All of this would be great material for an objective Ohio press corps that genuinely wants to cover the news in a way that allows voters to decide for themselves newspapers become campaign flyers and TV news shows become political commercials and don’t wait for the media to do fair reporting or tell the truth about their comrades in the political movement they favor And demand better of the press – especially those who claim to work hard to serve you right here in Ohio Someday Ohioans should ask themselves why they’d vote for a state official who doesn’t respect their intelligence Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, an Upper Arlington Republican if he wants to remain a Statehouse player (at least in his own mind) So he seems to be more publicity-seeking than ever. Earlier this year, Republican primary voters thrashed LaRose in the statewide Republican primary election to pick a GOP challenger to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, of Cleveland. Ohio Republicans instead fielded greater Cleveland entrepreneur Bernie Moreno to challenge Brown Moreno drew 51% of the statewide GOP primary vote LaRose told anyone who’d listen that making it harder for Ohio’s voters to amend their state constitution was a great idea Voters’ response: Ohioans voted 57% “no,” killing the anti-voter measure to require super-majorities to amend the Ohio Constitution Ken Blackwell: Media keeps flipping LaRose off. Issue 1 a con to enshrine gerrymandering in constitution. Ohioans – this time with a 57% “yes” vote – guaranteed the rights of women in Ohio to make their own decisions about pregnancy If the term “ballot language” rings any bells and two other Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board (including suburban Toledo state Sen slanted the ballot language on a voter-proposed constitutional amendment which Statehouse Republicans passed May 31 and GOP Gov That measure aimed to forbid foreign citizens including those who hold “green cards” (federally defined as a “Permanent Resident Car [allowing someone] to live and work permanently in the United States”) to contribute to Ohio’s statewide ballot-issue campaigns in Ohio the Legislative Service Commission reports the ban doesn’t cover donations to local ballot issues such as school levy campaigns.) Some Statehouse Republicans have convinced themselves that Ohioans sign away their constitutional rights in last year’s ballot issues not because voters think for themselves but they were misled by foreign campaign donations to Ohio campaigns Ohioans are wise enough to elect a secretary of state — but too dim to protect themselves from campaign ads funded overseas That’s the Statehouse version of heads I win was appointed to the federal bench in 2004 by Republican President George W Watson was chief legal counsel to then-Ohio Gov LaRose, naturally, was unhappy with the ruling, saying in a Tuesday statement that “we’re especially not going to let foreign billionaires try to buy our constitution It happened in two constitutional amendments on the ballot last year and we’re seeing clear evidence that it’s happening again with the [the anti-gerrymandering] amendment on this November’s ballot.” if LaRose were to curb his growing partisanship and concentrate instead on what is an essentially managerial job much of Ohio elections’ heavy lifting is done by Ohio’s 88 bipartisan county Boards of Elections And here’s the paradox:  Ohio’s voters are smart enough But somehow those same voters turn into putty thanks to campaign donations from overseas Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com There are no statistics available for this player Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here After months of mediation, American Oversight reached a settlement in its lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose for records related to the 2023 decision to withdraw Ohio from a nonpartisan voter-roll maintenance tool LaRose and his office provided records responsive to American Oversight’s requests American Oversight had sued in June 2023 after LaRose’s office failed to fully respond to public records requests as required by Ohio law in some cases delaying responding for nearly nine months American Oversight’s requests sought a variety of records, including LaRose’s calendars and communications about LaRose’s decision to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and well-functioning system of voter registration data-sharing The exodus from ERIC also led to a scramble to find a viable replacement for ERIC and in the process election denial activists have been pushing their own alternatives that make it easier to challenge voting rights Despite praising ERIC as “one of the best fraud-fighting tools that we have” and saying that it had “provided great benefit for us,” LaRose directed Ohio to leave ERIC American Oversight dismissed its case against LaRose © 2024 Copyright American Oversight. Privacy Policy Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Saturday it’s not his office’s job to further investigate for evidence of possible election law violations before he flags them to county prosecutors after they rebuffed LaRose’s call to act on cases he’s referred “What the law says is that we should report violations,” LaRose said “It doesn’t say that we’re the police department that gathers the evidence.” called out county prosecutors for only acting on a handful of cases his office handed over to them LaRose turned over 633 cases in which he alleges non-citizens registered to vote or cast ballots But the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association refuted LaRose’s claim that counties have let cases “languish.” Lou Tobin, the association’s executive director, characterized LaRose’s cases as mostly weak let alone obtain a conviction," Tobin said last week prosecutors will chase down a possible lead for it to yield nothing LaRose said he believes the state shouldn’t have to build the cases for prosecutors his office’s recently formed public integrity division will play a bigger role in packaging evidence for prosecutors in the future The back-and-forth stems from LaRose’s re-referral of those cases to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost “I have full confidence that our excellent attorney general takes this seriously and is going to dig into this,” LaRose said In a letter sent to LaRose’s office last week wrote that Yost’s office doesn’t have the authority to investigate most of what was re-referred “The overwhelming majority of re-referrals sent to this office are voting registration rereferrals that a county prosecutor has not pursued,” the letter read (the Ohio Revised Code) does not give this office any authority to do anything with those matters.” Coontz continued by writing that Yost’s office will pursue the smaller number of possible illegal voting cases LaRose has limited Ohioans’ use of secure ballot boxes at county boards of elections and is also pressing lawmakers to pass legislation so his office can ask Ohioans to prove they are a citizen when they register to vote Although LaRose re-referred 600 possible cases more than 8 million residents were registered to vote in Ohio as of the March primary.