Press Releases

COLUMBUS –Today Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a statement on the decision of the Tenth Court of Appeals (PDF)(opens in a new window) to grant an emergency stay of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas order to accept absentee ballot requests by fax or e-mail:

COLUMBUS – With 55 days to go until Election Day, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that 1,000,579 absentee ballot applications have been received by county boards of elections statewide. This includes 14,253 requests from military and overseas voters whose absentee ballots will be mailed beginning Friday, September 18th. All other ballots will be mailed beginning October 6th.

COLUMBUS –Each election, thousands of Ohioans dedicate themselves to sustaining the backbone of democracy—our election process. Poll workers help ensure that our elections are fair, and in doing so, maintain the traditions of our past and our hope for the future.

COLUMBUS –Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has launched a Public Service Announcement, in partnership with the Ohio Association of Broadcasters, to encourage Ohioans to register to vote and motivate those choosing to vote by absentee to return their ballot request forms as soon as possible. Ohioans will continue to have three options to cast their ballot this fall – in-person on election day, early in-person, or absentee.

COLUMBUS –Earlier this summer, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced every registered Ohio voter would receive an absentee ballot request form in the mail. Those request forms are arriving in mailboxes this week – one week ahead of schedule.

COLUMBUS – For generations, beauty salons and barbershops have served as special places in neighborhoods of color – as much a social hub as they are an economic engine. They are places not only to get hair care services, but sanctuaries where neighbors can discuss politics and the issues of importance in the community.

COLUMBUS –Continuing his innovative approach to help Ohioans keep their registration active and the state’s voter registration rates high, Secretary LaRose has released the Registration Readiness list. No one on the list of 115,816 registrations will be cancelled prior to the November 3, 2020 General Election.Boards of elections will restore the registration status of any registrant that votes, updates or confirms their registration, responds to a mailing, or engages in any other voter activity from now until December 7, 2020.

COLUMBUS – Today, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose referred 162 alleged violations of Ohio campaign finance laws to the Ohio Elections Commission. Primarily, the violations relate to Rep. Larry Householder’s campaign to become the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. The referral comes after weeks of review into campaign finance documents submitted to the Secretary’s office and the Federal Election Commission.

COLUMBUS –After a review of campaign finance materials submitted by Ohio State Representative Nino Vitale, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose referred Rep. Vitale to the Ohio Elections Commission for alleged and apparent violations of campaign finance law. The referral follows a comprehensive review that began June 6th after Rep. Vitale submitted a blank campaign finance report one day after the June 5th campaign finance deadline.

COLUMBUS –This week, the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)(opens in a new window) announced that Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has been appointed as the Elections Committee Co-Chair. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson will serve with Secretary LaRose as co-chair.

COLUMBUS - Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose today announced that Mr. Richard Duncan and Mr. Rodney E. Garrett Jr. met the requirements necessary to appear together on the presidential ballot in Ohio for the November 3, 2020 General Election. At the request of Mr. Duncan, and as allowed under Ohio law, Mr. Howie Hawkins and Ms. Angela Walker will appear on the ballot together as independent candidates for president and vice president in place of Mr. Duncan and Mr. Garrett.

COLUMBUS – Once again, in an effort to ensure every eligible voter gets registered and can make their voice heard, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is sending information about how to get registered to 110,448 Ohioans who are eligible to vote but aren’t yet registered.

COLUMBUS – After June 2020 new business filings broke all previous records with the most new business filings in one month, Ohioans went out (or in many instances stayed-in, at home) and started even more businesses in July. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose today announced 18,483 new businesses filed in July --15% more than the short-lived record of 16,047 from the previous month. The number of new businesses created in July is also a massive 65% increase over July 2019.

COLUMBUS– Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is requesting the authority from the Ohio Controlling Board to use funds from the Business Services Division fund within the Secretary’s office to pay for postage on all absentee ballots.

COLUMBUS – Today, RB Sigma LLC announced a partnership with the Ohio Secretary of State to donate 463,500 surgical masks to help keep voters and poll workers safe. In accordance with Governor DeWine’s statewide mask mandate, all Ohioans are required to wear a mask at polling locations. In support of that requirement and to ease the burden on election officials preparing for the November election, this donation from RB Sigma, LLC will be a massive help to Ohio’s county boards of elections.

COLUMBUS –As Ohio continues our effort to recruit new poll workers in preparation for the fall election, the Accountancy Board of Ohio (ABO) will now allow Ohio Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) to obtain required Continuing Public Education (CPE) general credits for CPAs serving as poll workers in 2020. This builds off the recent decision by the Ohio Supreme Court to allow Ohio attorneys to obtain CLE credit in exchange for serving as poll workers. (Read more about that decision by clicking here.(opens in a new window))

COLUMBUS –In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health, Secretary of State LaRose issued the Ohio Voting Safety Plan to our state’s 88 county boards of elections. The 48-point plan sets forth requirements for boards of elections, as well as recommendations for voters, for how to run a safe and healthy election this fall.

COLUMBUS - Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has issued the nation’s first state elections system Vulnerability Disclosure Policy. The policy, common among larger private sector businesses, establishes procedures for outside researchers to inspect the Secretary of State’s website for vulnerabilities. Once those vulnerabilities are reported, it allows 120 calendar days for LaRose’s office to repair the vulnerability before the researcher may publicly announce its discovery. Having a defined time period provides assurances to the cybersecurity community that reporting of potential vulnerabilities will be treated with the seriousness they deserve.

COLUMBUS –In accordance with his duty as Ohio Secretary of State and following both federal and state law, Secretary LaRose has issued a directive to implement voter list maintenance. The US Supreme Court upheld the law as carried out by Secretaries Brown, Blackwell, Taft, Brunner, and Husted, but no previous Ohio Secretary of State has ever undertaken the level of outreach that Secretary LaRose is doing in 2020.

COLUMBUS – Today, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose launched the Ohio Secretary of State Diversity & Empowerment Council.