Frank LaRose “Twists” Ballot Language to “Confuse,” “Deceive” Ohioans
August 29, 2023
After LaRose’s attempt to benefit special interests and silence Ohioans failed, LaRose leads effort to mislead Ohioans ahead of November election
Columbus, OH – Frank LaRose, who made himself the face of an August amendment designed to benefit special interests and silence Ohioans, is now “twist[ing]” ballot language to protect abortion rights to “confuse” and silence Ohio voters. LaRose has already said that if the November amendment passes, he would overrule the majority of Ohioans who support protecting reproductive rights by voting for a national abortion ban if elected to the Senate.
LaRose is facing criticism from Republicans at the outset of his Senate campaign after State Issue 1 flopped in August – including from primary opponent Bernie Moreno who said the amendment’s failure was a “preview of what would happen with Frank LaRose at the top of the ticket in 2024.”
“Frank LaRose isn’t working for us and has proved he’ll do whatever it takes to silence and overrule Ohioans to support his own political ambitions,” said ODP spokesperson Reeves Oyster.
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Huffington Post: Ohio Republicans Twist Ballot Language For Pro-Choice Provision In Likely Attempt To Confuse Voters
Alanna Vagianos
August 25, 2023
- Republicans in Ohio are still trying to pass their anti-choice agenda, even after voters in the state successfully thwarted a ballot initiative earlier this month that would have made it harder to pass a pro-choice constitutional amendment this fall.
- In November, voters will consider a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights and other reproductive freedoms into Ohio’s Constitution. But the five-member Ohio Ballot Board, led by anti-choice advocate and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, on Thursday approved anti-choice language to be used in the initiative, which may confuse voters.
- The approved summary language uses “unborn child” instead of “fetus.” It does not include any language about the right to make decisions about miscarriages, fertility treatments or contraception — even though that’s a significant part of the proposed amendment.
- The approved summary language is also longer than the original supplied by pro-choice organizations behind the initiative, meaning the board can’t argue it needed to trim the summary that would appear on ballots.
- Pro-choice advocates are calling the language intentionally vague and misleading.
- “Secretary of State Frank LaRose today exploited the Ohio Ballot Board process in a last-ditch effort to deceive and confuse Ohio voters ahead of the November vote on reproductive freedom,” Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, one of the main groups advocating for the amendment, said in a press release on Thursday.
- LaRose gave the deciding vote to approve the language in a 3-2 final vote. The Ohio secretary of state was a vocal advocate for the August ballot measure, Issue 1 ― an initiative to raise the threshold for altering the state constitution from a simple statewide majority vote to 60%. Although a simple majority has been the standard in Ohio for over 100 years, anti-abortion advocates in the state called for a special election to raise the vote threshold in a preemptive attempt to block the pro-choice constitutional amendment.
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