CLEVELAND — The hotly debated Issue 1 continues to stir up contention with just five days left until Ohio's special election, and now the Libertarian Party of Ohio is accusing Secretary of State Frank LaRose of violating federal law by campaigning in support of the measure.
Issue 1 would change the threshold to pass a state constitutional amendment from a simple majority to 60% of the vote. On Monday, the Libertarian Party filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel which claimed LaRose's public support for the issue violates the Hatch Act, which prohibits federally funded state employees from influencing the results of an election.
"Secretary LaRose is responsible for administering federal election funds provided to Ohio under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA)," attorney Mark Brown wrote in the complaint on behalf of the LPO. "In sum, Secretary LaRose, who administers federal funds for elections supplied to his Office under federal law, has used and is using his office and official authority to influence, interfere with and affect an Ohio election scheduled on August 8, 2023 that will decide whether to add what is known as 'Issue 1' to Ohio’s Constitution."
Read the complaint below:
On Thursday, LaRose — a Republican who is also running for his party's nomination in Ohio's 2024 U.S. Senate election — shared his thoughts on the complaint with 3News.
"I have not a doubt in my mind that anything I'm doing violates the Hatch Act or any other federal or state statute," he said. "What I'm doing is campaigning for an important issue for Ohioans."
He then explained why he believes the filing is wrong.
"It's absolute nonsense," he continued. "It's just the kind of silly season political attacks that you're going to get. And here's the thing to note: Hatch Act doesn't apply to issue campaigns.
"Of course I would never violate the Hatch Act, but of course I'm also free to get out there and campaign on issues that I care about. It's expected even. This is just an effort by a small group of people to try to silence the 'Yes on Issue 1' voices in Ohio like mine."
However, Brown told WKYC LaRose's de facto role of Ohio's chief election officer as secretary of state is also a problem.
"He's supposed to be an umpire," Brown asserted. "He's supposed to be neutral objective, and he's not."
LaRose also gave us his rebuttal to that.
"It's also important to note that in the work I do as Secretary of State — actually administering elections, the day-to-day work of running my office — I execute those duties in a completely nonpartisan and unbiased way because that's what my oath of office obligates me to do," he said. "Look at my track record on this. I follow the law. As an executive office holder, that's my job, but in my off-duty time, in my personal time, I can go out and campaign for issues that I care about."
LaRose thinks the complaint will be dismissed, but the LPO is feeling confident they'll win.
"We expect the Office of Special Counsel to investigate it, and I firmly believe they will find a violation," Brown stated. "Then what they can do with it is they can force Ohio to forfeit its federal funding, and they can recommend to Ohio that if Ohio wants to keep its federal funding, Ohio has to fire Frank LaRose.”
3News reached out to the U.S. Office of Special Council on Thursday. A spokesperson responded saying they have received the complaint, but cannot comment beyond that at this time.
