Ohio Secretary of State Has Serious Concerns About H.R. 1

by J.D. Davidson

While Congress continues to push toward voting law changes and efforts to federalize elections, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose continues to speak out in trying to protect states’ authority.

LaRose and the Ohio General Assembly were among the first a month ago to call attention to House Resolution 1, which LaRose said is a federal takeover of state-run elections.

Even with Ohio’s primary election less than a month away, LaRose has blanketed media, covering everything from small, rural newspapers and radio stations in the state to national media outlets.

LaRose used April Fool’s Day and Twitter last week to point out what he called the laughable provisions in the proposed legislation.

“[Election Day] is no laughing matter like [April Fool’s Day], but HR 1 actually makes a mockery of election security by legalizing ballot harvesting – putting voted ballots in the hands of paid political operatives,” LaRose tweeted.

What Democrats have labeled the For The People Act, which has passed the U.S. House, creates an automatic voter registration system in each state and does not allow states to stop mail ballots while requiring states to prepay postage.

It also calls for same-day voter registration and 15 days of early voting, eliminates voter roll purges and allows convicted felons to vote. If passed and signed, redistricting processes in each state would be overhauled and changes would be made to campaign finance laws. In fact, it would create federal government match for all small-dollar donations for federal candidates.

The Ohio General Assembly became one of the first states to call on Congress to defeat the proposal in early March, when Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Township, introduced a resolution calling on Congress to defeat House Resolution 1.

“On November 3, 2020, Ohio executed our most successful election ever,” Hall said. “We don’t need DC’s chaos in Ohio’s election system. Nancy Pelosi and the DC elite cannot run elections in Ohio better than our own secretary of state and 88 county boards of elections. HR 1 is a simple partisan power grab to Ohio’s bipartisan processes.”

The legislation was first introduced in Congress two years ago with significant Republican opposition.

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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. He is regional editor for The Center Square.
Photo “Frank LaRose” by Frank LaRose. Background Photo “Voting Booths” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.