Ohio's LaRose refers alleged election violations for prosecutions

A company that canvassed Ohio to register voters could face criminal charges for submitting fraudulent registration forms.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Monday he has referred evidence of suspected election law violations to 20 county prosecutors around the state.

“We take every allegation of wrongdoing in our elections seriously, whether it’s a fake signature on a petition, a fraudulent voter registration form or a stolen vote,” LaRose said. “Today we’re handing over evidence to prosecutors in 20 counties, where dishonest individuals were apparently trying to game the system. Every one of these has the potential to fraudulently impact an election, and even though fraud is rare, it’s important to keep it that way by sending a clear message that misconduct won’t be tolerated.”

The allegations of violations involve petition forms to grant minor party status and petition forms to place a constitutional amendment involving redistricting on the November ballot.

Also referred were allegedly fraudulent voter registration forms on behalf of Black Fork Strategies LLC.

According to its website, Black Fork Strategies is an Ohio-based company that boosts canvass programs for voter education and registration, signature gathering for ballot initiatives, get-out-the-vote operations, data targeting and training.

The 20 counties where referrals were made include Butler, Champaign, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hamilton, Harrison, Jackson, Knox, Licking, Mercer, Montgomery, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Warren and Wayne.

LaRose said his Election Integrity Unit has developed the referrals to help each county prosecutor enforce the law and possibly file criminal charges.

Ohio law charges the secretary of state with investigating the administration of elections laws, frauds and irregularities in any county and reporting the findings to either the attorney general or county prosecutors.