Russo campaigns in Jefferson County, outlines election priorities
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STEUBENVILLE -- With 88 counties in Ohio, staying on top of issues surrounding elections is an important part of the secretary of state’s job.
“Every board of elections in every county is different, and there are unique issues,” Allison Russo said Tuesday morning after visiting with officials from the Jefferson County Board of Elections. “We have 88 counties across the state, and it’s good to hear from the people who are boots on the ground. Our elections run because of our local county elections officials and understanding their unique issues or concerns.”
Russo, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state on the Nov. 3 ballot, was speaking in the lobby of the Tower building during a campaign swing through the area that included stops at a meeting of the Upper Ohio Valley Building and Trades Council at the headquarters of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 246 and at the Jefferson County Fair.
She had just finished speaking with Bob Gale, director of the county’s board of elections, and Ernest Burress, the deputy director.
“I think that’s important, and something for me, as secretary of state, that will be a priority when I take office -- visiting with every single county board of elections to have those conversations,” Russo explained.
She’s running against Republican Bob Sprague and Libertarian Tom Pruss for the seat currently held by Republican Frank LaRose, who was prohibited from seeking re-election by term limits. LaRose is running for state auditor.
While the secretary of state has other functions, including overseeing notary licenses and approving and registering corporations and partnerships, the duty people most closely associate with the office is overseeing the state’s elections.
“I think, right now, Ohio has a very good process. I do agree with the current secretary of state that we are the gold standard,” Russo, a resident of the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington, said. “We have elections that are run by dedicated local election officials. We have Republicans and Democrats who are part of the process. Everything has a check and balance. We have a lot of security in the process.
“What I get upset about is when we have either legislators or people like my opponent come in and want to upend that process and make it more difficult for voters to access their right to vote when they have absolutely zero evidence that there are issues or fraud in the current process. We know it’s working well, and I think it’s an insult to our election workers, our election officials and the voters themselves.”
A request for comment from the Sprague campaign was not answered.
Russo brings legislative experience to the campaign. She has served four terms in the state House of Representatives and was a former minority leader. She earned a master’s degree in public health in epidemiology from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in public health policy from George Washington University.
She also founded Girls Who Learn, mentored through the United Way of Central Ohio’s Women’s Leadership Council and worked with the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network.
“My job as secretary of state would be to follow the election laws of the state as established by the Legislature,” Russo said.
Russo added there are major areas that she sees as top priorities of the post.
“No. 1 is to be an advocate for the voters and for the election process and to be very focused on how we can make sure that eligible voters are able to access what I believe is their fundamental right to vote,” she said. “That also means how do we make sure that our county board of elections and our election officials have the resources and the guidance they need to carry out those duties, and that is very, very important.”
Finding ways to get more people involved in the process is critical, she added.
“A third part of this is how are we bring more people to the table?” she said. “When I was meeting with the election officials this morning, we were talking about how do we get more 18-year-olds registered to vote. We know if they are registered to vote, if they work the polls, we have voters for life. So, how do we increase that civic engagement? I think there’s a leadership role for the secretary of state in addressing that issue.”
Russo explained she was not in favor of Issue 3 on the statewide ballot in November. If passed, it would require an amendment to the state constitution that would require a photo ID to vote.
“Voter ID has been a requirement in Ohio for a couple of decades now, and it works,” she said. “The current photo ID requirements we have, which were put into place two years ago, are some of the strictest in the country. We have a very narrow list of photo identifications that are allowed and acceptable for voting.
“I think this current effort now is a mistake, because what it does is tie the hands of the Legislature so that when future forms of identification that are likely more accurate become available, instead of the Legislature being able to modernize our elections to reflect hat, they will have to go back to the voters and have a change in the constitution. That is expensive and very burdensome and not really a way that we should be making election law.”
Sprague’s campaign did not agree with her assessment.
“Russo has voted three times against photo identification to vote and opposes Issue 3 to put photo ID requirements into the Ohio constitution, but she supports ballot harvesting drop boxes and letting noncitizens vote in Ohio elections,” spokesman Dalton Throckmorton said. “As secretary, she would gut virtually every election security measure Ohio has put in place to keep our elections honest and voter fraud rare.”
Eddie Adballa, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party, said Russo’s the right choice for secretary of state.
“She has been traveling the state and listening to people’s concerns about fair, accurate and secure elections for the last 12 months, he said. “She’s a big proponent of ensuring that every person who is eligible to vote is able to vote. Putting up roadblocks and making it difficult for American citizens to vote should not be the job of the secretary of state, as it has been for the last eight years under LaRose. The job of the secretary of state is to make voting easier and more accessible to all those who have the right to cast a ballot. She will make our state proud when we elect her in November.”