Our readers are not fond of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. I sent a text message this week to the 2,600-plus people who subscribe to them, asking what they would ask or say to LaRose over a friendly cup of coffee. My thinking is that our politicians live in echo chambers anymore and rarely hear from a cross-section of constitutents. More than 300 responded, and most were critical of LaRose. Many are angry about the lies he put into the ballot language for Issue 1, which would end gerrymandering in Ohio. LaRose and the Ballot Board put language in calling the issue gerrymandering. Many are angry with him for limiting counties in the state to single ballot boxes. They pointed out the ridiculousness of his voter fraud arguments. As promised, here is a representative sample of the responses. My question is not original. But here it is. “Have you no honor sir.” Sarcastic. How’s the Kool Ade at your office? I’d ask him why he tried to fool the voters with his write up of the original Issue One language. I’m a lifelong Republican voter, but no more! My question would be , why are you making it harder to vote? There should be more drop boxes, more time to vote, and stop with the illegal people who can’t vote anyways. “You have failed miserably in your duties as Ohio’s Secretary of State and have behaved repeatedly in a headline-grabbing, partisan manner. If you could serve a third term, what would you do differently?” Exactly why are you trying so hard to thwart the democratic process in Ohio and how are you benefiting from doing so? (I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but I want to hear him say it) And Chris, you would be administering truth serum to him first, right? Is the ballot system a closed computer system, so that no other data can be entered in it? You were counter on the will of the voters of the marijuana issue, the abortion issue, and soon to be the gerrymandering issue, what makes you believe that you are qualified to represent Ohioans in the future? Does he vote early, by mail or on Election Day? And has he used all three methods during his lifetime of voting? I would ask how carefully they check for voters who aren’t qualified to vote. Who are your favorite Republicans from before the Reagan era and why? What characteristics did they have and what policies did they espouse? Which criticisms of your performance as Secretary of State bother you the most? In other words, which ones are you taking to heart? Where do you feel you need to improve your performance? There’s almost no voter fraud. Why do t you make it easier to vote? Isn’t that better for the People? I would have many things to say to our Secretary of State. Let’s start with only allowing one ballot drop box per country. My son lives in Seattle where his county has 58 drop boxes! How is the state of Washington able to have so many more drop boxes per county and Ohio can’t? What is the Ohio Secretary of State doing wrong that were have such a limited number of drop boxes? Why isn’t the Ohio Secretary of State doing everything he can to make voting easier instead of harder for the Ohio voters. I would ask him to think about putting more context around voting fraud in any communication. He should explain that these cases represent 0.0001% of all votes cast in Ohio and the miniscule number shows the voting system works and these is no widespread fraud. He should start any press release with support of the integrity of the system. I’d ask him what it feels like to look in the mirror and see someone who sold his soul for power. This is why I am not a journalist. We all know that it’s the ones who count the ballots that determine the election. What safeguards will you have to ensure that no ballots will be added or miscalculated for a Harris win? Why are you afraid to take drawing the lines of the districts in Ohio out of the politicians hands when, over & over, they have proven not to be capable to do this in a fair & equal way? Gerrymandering must stop. Why did you make the issue one language so confusing? Why do you make it more difficult for people without cars to vote by limiting the number of vote drop boxes? “Dear SofS LaRose, are you able to assure Ohio’s citizens that the Nov. 5th election will be free of fraud and that the results will withstand any challenge?” Secretary LaRose, what changed that took you from a responsible Secretary of State for all Ohio citizens, to a very partisan politician? Why did you deliberately sabotage the ballot language of a citizens' initiative for an anti-gerrymandering, when the current system allowed politicians to ignore the Ohio Supreme Court? If Frank is so worried about voter fraud, why did he pull Ohio out of the ERIC compact? What is he doing to prevent cross-state double voting? Why not go back to support a system that was already working? Secretary of State LaRose as Secretary of State you swore an oath to the residents of Ohio stating you will rule in an unbiased manner when it comes to matters dealing with law. Yet you have been anything but biased with Issue One. Your confusing and very wordy writing of the issue has left many people wondering why as Secretary of State you could support gerrymandering in this great State of ours??? What is the wost election fraud in the past ten years? And who, what, where? Why have you become so partisan in the position in state government that should be the least partisan as your primary responsibility is to get as many people as possible to vote? Simply lower the temperature. Remove anxiety by assuring people that you got this and allow the volunteers and others to do their jobs. Frank, what is driving your moves to inhibit voter participation in the State of Ohio and why are you against ballot boxes being installed at public libraries? Does he simply believe the party in control should always have the right to leverage their majority to super majority by manipulation of voting districts? If you could go back and change one decision you made as Secretary of State (time machine, no one would know) what would it be? And if I had 2 questions, Who are you more motivated to serve, your party or ALL Ohio citizens? How do you sleep at night knowing that you wrote a deliberately misleading, false and deceptive ballot summary for Issue 1? What is your definition of a safe, fair, and accurate election? What are the necessary components of a safe, fair, and accurate election? First, I would thank him for protecting the security of our elections. Second, how promptly does he think results will be available on election night? I would say, “Frank Frank Frank - Snap out of it !” What happened to you? You went from rational, responsible officeholder to partisan hack. Will you uphold Issue #1 if it passes? I’d ask him why non-related people can’t return a mail in ballot to the board of elections drop box. I can ask a friend to take it to the post office so why can’t a friend drop it off in the drop box as long as someone verified it was sealed? I would ask him to resign. My comment to him is that he has interjected his personal preferences into his job. It is very disappointing. What changed that made him veer so far to the right?
He was once considered pretty centrist, and a decent politician. I’m not sure I could sit down with LaRose without scolding him like I used to scold my teens. “What the hell were you thinking? Did you honestly think we wouldn’t notice your shenanigans? Why did you do that?” which is a bigger threat to democracy? A few “illegal ” votes or hundreds or thousands of eligible voters who can’t or for whom it is made difficult for them to cast their votes? I would ask LaRose why I would have to wait in a line of traffic and then wait in a line at my BOE to sign an affidavit that I am my 90 year old mother’s daughter in order to drop off her absentee ballot at the BOE, but I can just put a stamp on her ballot and drop it in the mailbox, without having to prove I’m a first degree relative. How are those two things different? It makes no sense. I would ask him what made him do a 180 degree change in attitude/behavior - honestly. To me it’s pure ambition, like it was with JD Vance. Most people change in nuances, not so dramatically. I would ask something like. Can you give an example where you reached across the aisle to help ensure the election is fair for all parties? As you represent all of Ohio. Or do you operate in a silo? I’d ask, “What happened to you?” When he first assumed the office, he actively worked to encourage everyone to vote and did things to make it easier and convenient for Ohioans to get registered and vote. Then, caving to the far right, he steadily took actions to make it more difficult -- photo ID requirements, shortenened voting windows, mandating only one drop box per county, aggressively purging voter records. He has been such a disappointment. I would tell him that he is the scum of the Earth. My questions would be why are we making the election process more difficult? Having only one secure box to return ballots does not make it convenient to drop off a ballot (driving a long distance or the time to do so). Not allowing someone other than the voter to return an absentee ballot without filling out additional paperwork is senseless. Why can’t I drop off my wife’s ballot or an elderly individual without it being a hassle. These things seem to just make it harder to carry out your constitutional right to vote. What are Republicans afraid of? Does he think he fairly represent both parties? From where I stand it seems like he is okay with certain laws, but when the results aren’t to his liking he will delay or interpret them differently. Why do you think it is OK for the Ohio Sec. of State to attend a partisan rally for a specific political candidate? Don’t you think that gives the appearance that your office is trying to influence Ohio voters? When you put an issue on the ballot that a group of Ohioans have requested and met the requirements for, why do you make the language so convoluted and difficult to understand. Issue #1 is a prime example of 17pages/10 bullet points that the average voter won’t read or be able to understand. You should be ashamed of yourself for saying that your office presents “safe, fair, accurate” elections.
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He was once considered pretty centrist, and a decent politician. I’m not sure I could sit down with LaRose without scolding him like I used to scold my teens. “What the hell were you thinking? Did you honestly think we wouldn’t notice your shenanigans? Why did you do that?” which is a bigger threat to democracy? A few “illegal ” votes or hundreds or thousands of eligible voters who can’t or for whom it is made difficult for them to cast their votes? I would ask LaRose why I would have to wait in a line of traffic and then wait in a line at my BOE to sign an affidavit that I am my 90 year old mother’s daughter in order to drop off her absentee ballot at the BOE, but I can just put a stamp on her ballot and drop it in the mailbox, without having to prove I’m a first degree relative. How are those two things different? It makes no sense. I would ask him what made him do a 180 degree change in attitude/behavior - honestly. To me it’s pure ambition, like it was with JD Vance. Most people change in nuances, not so dramatically. I would ask something like. Can you give an example where you reached across the aisle to help ensure the election is fair for all parties? As you represent all of Ohio. Or do you operate in a silo? I’d ask, “What happened to you?” When he first assumed the office, he actively worked to encourage everyone to vote and did things to make it easier and convenient for Ohioans to get registered and vote. Then, caving to the far right, he steadily took actions to make it more difficult -- photo ID requirements, shortenened voting windows, mandating only one drop box per county, aggressively purging voter records. He has been such a disappointment. I would tell him that he is the scum of the Earth. My questions would be why are we making the election process more difficult? Having only one secure box to return ballots does not make it convenient to drop off a ballot (driving a long distance or the time to do so). Not allowing someone other than the voter to return an absentee ballot without filling out additional paperwork is senseless. Why can’t I drop off my wife’s ballot or an elderly individual without it being a hassle. These things seem to just make it harder to carry out your constitutional right to vote. What are Republicans afraid of? Does he think he fairly represent both parties? From where I stand it seems like he is okay with certain laws, but when the results aren’t to his liking he will delay or interpret them differently. Why do you think it is OK for the Ohio Sec. of State to attend a partisan rally for a specific political candidate? Don’t you think that gives the appearance that your office is trying to influence Ohio voters? When you put an issue on the ballot that a group of Ohioans have requested and met the requirements for, why do you make the language so convoluted and difficult to understand. Issue #1 is a prime example of 17pages/10 bullet points that the average voter won’t read or be able to understand. You should be ashamed of yourself for saying that your office presents “safe, fair, accurate” elections.
