Sec. LaRose urges lawmakers to keep but reform Ohio Elections Commission

Ohio’s Secretary of State is wading into the debate over the state elections commission. The independent agency tasked with campaign finance oversight gets axed in the budget proposal Ohio House lawmakers approved last month. The state Senate is currently mulling changes of its own.

In a letter to Senate President Rob McColley, Secretary Frank LaRose echoed many of the criticisms leveled by House Republicans, but rather than abolishing the agency, LaRose argued forcefully for reform.

The state of debate

The Ohio House has made no secret about its frustration with the Ohio Elections Commission. In a contentious hearing, lawmakers on the House Finance committee grilled the agency’s executive director Phil Richter over perceived shortcomings. They argued cases drag on too long and the process is too tedious.

In a Senate committee hearing last week, lawmakers were receptive to Richter’s warnings that handing oversight to county boards of elections and a hearing officer in the Secretary of State’s office would lead to a “patchwork” of decisions.

But they had critiques for Richter, too. The chairman, Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, didn’t seem all that concerned about devolving campaign finance cases. “What’s the problem with that model?” he asked. Meanwhile, Sen. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, argued the commission needs to move more quickly and use “more teeth.”

Ohio Elections Commission urges state senators to restore funding in budget

The Secretary’s letter

In his letter to McColley, LaRose argued the commission “has become an increasingly toothless and inconsistent shell of what it was intended to be.” In particular he highlighted nearly $100 million in fines that have gone uncollected. In addition to “sending a terrible message that you can break the law and get away with it,” LaRose argued, that money could be put to good use.

“The General Assembly could fund schools, repair aging infrastructure, upgrade election equipment, or even reduce taxes with that uncollected revenue,” LaRose wrote. “Wrongdoing might actually be deterred if fines were treated as more than a suggestion.”

But the secretary insisted it’s a bad idea to decentralize campaign finance oversight — making the same argument about potentially scores of different enforcement decisions.

“These board members, hard-working as they are, often serve as local political party chairs,” LaRose added. “They should not be placed in the awkward, unsolicited position of policing their own candidates, nor are they staffed, equipped, or trained to manage these complex cases.”

LaRose noted his office has been talking with lawmakers about potential changes since at least last year. In those talks, the secretary proposed expanding the commission’s purview to conservative fixations like ballot harvesting and noncitizen voting. His office also urged the commission to move cases more quickly and require members have relevant legal experience.

The secretary warned if his office has to take over administration of OEC duties it would cost at least $800,000. The governor’s initial proposal budgeted $812,600 and $885,100 for the agency in the next two years.

And perhaps most important, LaRose argued the House plan to abolish the commission by July is too hasty.

“We likely need more time to facilitate that transition,” LaRose wrote. “On this point, I can again find common ground with Mr. Richter in saying that any reform of the OEC should be done through a transition over the remainder of the current calendar year.”

Asked about the Secretary’s letter after the Senate session Wednesday, McColley said he’d yet to read it. On the topic of abolishing the Ohio Elections Commission more generally, he kept his powder dry.

“Obviously, we’ll look at what the House sent over, and we’ll talk with some of our members as to what they’re ideas are,” McColley said. He put special emphasis on members like Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, who have worked on several pieces of elections-related legislation in recent years, but held off on taking any firm position until his caucus weighs in.

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