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The Letter:
Last week, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to the state’s Attorney General, Dave Yost, asking his office to investigate what LaRose says are “more than 600 election law violations,” the latest in hundreds of voting fraud violations LaRose has had investigated in the last five years.
The letter also alleged that Ohio county prosecutors decided not to prosecute the violations, and requested Yost’s office take over.
However, Lou Tobin, the executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, told Ohio Capital Journal that the reason that the violations aren’t being prosecuted is because there isn’t any fraud actually occurring.
“When the prosecutor chases it down,” Tobin said, “it turns out there’s nothing there.”
The Backlash:
News outlets have called LaRose’s hunt for voter fraud “unsubstantiated,” which he responded to yesterday.
“I’m required by law to report election crimes to the prosecutors. I’m authorized by law to ask the AG to help investigate them,” LaRose posted online, alongside allegations that journalists were “paid by foreign-funded leftist operatives to attack” him.
He added: “I look forward to hearing from them on what they need to more effectively do their jobs.”
His post didn’t go over well with some Ohioans, who called him clueless and a loser.
“Just because you have no political future doesn’t mean you need to waste resources and attack our amazing Board of Elections,” an X user said. “You have no clue what’s going on.”
“LaLoser speaks, no one listens,” another X user replied to LaRose.
“There’s no reason for anyone to pay to attack you… You prove you’re an incompetent dipshit on your own, every day,” an X user said. “It’s laughable that you think you’re the target of ‘leftist operatives.’ You have the self-awareness of a baked potato. You’re not that important.”
The Background:
Widespread voter fraud has been a big Republican talking point since the 2020 election, which many Republicans claim was rigged and stolen from former President Donald Trump by the Democratic party and President Joe Biden.
And many state Secretaries of State have addressed the issue head on: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger and Kentucky Secretary of State Micheal Adams have said there was no election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, among others.
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