Republican Robert Sprague and Democrat Allison Russo are facing off in November’s general election.
In November, Ohio voters will head to the polls to elect a Secretary of State. The two candidates vying for the role have different proposals for securing Ohio’s elections.
State Treasurer Robert Sprague
Treasurer Robert Sprague is the Republican nominee. His platform is focused on securing election integrity in the state of Ohio and ensuring that only American citizens can vote in American elections.
In a recent interview, Sprague discussed the recent discovery that 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey. He referred to the situation as “concerning.”
“Look, we’re commonsense Midwesterners. We want to have good elections, and the way that you have good elections is to have secure elections. And you want to have good systems and secure systems that people can trust,” he said.
Sprague noted that Ohio passed Issue 2 four years ago, which was a ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to allow only American citizens to vote in Ohio elections. His opponent, Allison Russo, voted against it.
Issue 2 passed with nearly 77% of the vote across Ohio.
Sprague said he supports election security measures, including photo ID for in-person voting and mail-in ballots. He also wants to end the use of ballot harvesting drop boxes.
State Representative Allison Russo
State Representative Allison Russo is the Democratic nominee for Ohio’s next Secretary of State.
In a recent statement, Russo said, “Republicans love to bury restrictions for legal voters in these bill so that no one notices. I will always stand up for the right of every eligible voter to have their voice heard and their vote counted in fair, free, and secure elections.”
“[Sprague] is an election denier who wants to make voting inconvenient for eligible voters so that his political cronies remain unaccountable to everyday Ohioans,” she continued.
She added that Sprague “proves over and over again that he will continue to use this office for partisan games and political theater that disrespects Ohio voters and election workers.”
In 2020, Russo supported automatic voter registration. Sprague opposes it.
The past two secretaries of state were Republicans Frank LaRose and current Senator John Husted. The last Democrat elected to the position was Jennifer Brunner in 2006.
