NORWOOD, Ohio – Secretary of State Frank LaRose traveled Tuesday morning to the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Norwood to instill the public’s confidence in elections.
He watched election staff sort ballots as they audited the 2021 election. It's a routine procedure that has drawn much more scrutiny in the past year in light of former President Donald Trump's false and debunked claims of a rigged election in 2020.
As the sound of papers being shuffled filled the large room, LaRose stood before a placard stating “Security, transparency, integrity” and told the press Ohio’s elections are safe and secure.
But when asked by The Enquirer whether he believed Trump won or lost the 2020 election nationally, LaRose didn’t give a simple answer.
First, he praised Trump’s “record-setting” victory in Ohio.
“I can speak for Ohio,” LaRose said Tuesday. “I can tell you President Trump won a decisive victory in Ohio, in fact, a record-setting victory. Nobody has ever gotten 3 million votes in our state history.”
LaRose, a Republican first elected to secretary of state in 2018, didn’t directly criticize Trump.
LaRose faces a primary challenge in 2022 from former state legislator John Adams, a Trump loyalist who has touted debunked claims that cast doubt on President Joe Biden’s win.
LaRose voiced concerns about “last-minute changes” being made by courts to the election process in some states, though he didn’t cite specific examples. He did dismiss false conspiracy theories about...
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