Ohio
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was among the Republican officials who were the most outspoken in pushing back against Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
In an interview shortly after the election, he said that Joe Biden won, that states generally run elections well and that it was “irresponsible” to claim otherwise.
In the 2022 GOP primary, LaRose faced a challenge from former state Representative John Adams, who repeated conspiracy theories about Biden’s win.
LaRose shifted some of his rhetoric, saying that there were some “shenanigans” in 2020, but still declined to say that the election was stolen.
Trump endorsed LaRose anyway, and he defeated Adams with nearly two-thirds of the vote in the May primary.
Ease of Voting
Ohio has not passed any major elections changes since 2020.
Ballot Security
A provision in the state budget law bars elections officials from accepting private donations to run elections, such as the grants local and state officials asked for and received from Meta Platforms Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in 2020.
Read More: Zuckerberg’s Election Aid Spurs GOP Drive in 30 States to Ban It
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
Republican Senate nominee JD Vance has claimed without evidence that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election as well as a “Big Tech” conspiracy from Zuckerberg and other Silicon Valley executives that cost Trump the election.
“There were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis,” he said in an interview during the Republican primary.
Three Republican nominees for US House have also embraced Trump’s claims to varying degrees: Madison Gesiotto Gilbert has raised doubts about the election, former Trump staffer Max Miller helped plan the Jan. 6 rally on the National Mall and J.R. Majewski attended the rally.
Five of Ohio’s 12 Republican US representatives signed an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to have the Supreme Court intervene.
Four objected to the certification of Biden electors from Arizona and five objected to Pennsylvania.