COLUMBUS, Ohio — A directive that restricted Ohio counties to one ballot drop box in November was arbitrary and unreasonable, a county judge ruled Tuesday, delivering the Republican secretary of state in the presidential battleground another in a series of blows to his policies.
For now, Frye’s ruling doesn’t change anything, LaRose spokesperson Maggie Sheehan said in a written statement, “and the Secretary’s directive remains in place.”.
It is often the largely Democratic urban counties — such as Cuyahoga, home to Cleveland — that look to expand the number of drop boxes.
Cuyahoga must serve more than 860,000 registered voters with only a single drop box under LaRose’s order.
The Ohio Democratic Party and a coalition of voting rights group sued LaRose last month over the directive, calling it unconstitutional.
In response to the ruling, state Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper called for LaRose to rise to the occasion.
“Oh, we’re busy,” said Wendy Helgeson, the Town of Greenville clerk who also serves as president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association. »
