At 8:26 p.m. on Aug. 1, an email from Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office was sent to potential poll workers promoting the Aug. 8 special election. Except, the date for the high-stakes election that could cement abortion rights for Ohioans, was wrong.
“Next Tuesday, August 2nd, is the election!” reads the subject line of an email informing subscribers there may be a need for poll workers in their county. The email also reminds recipients to vote, but the only reference to election day was the incorrect Aug. 2 date in the subject line.
The email went uncorrected for approximately 45 minutes before the official info@ohiosos.com email issued a correction.
“CORRECTION: The election date in the previous email subject line was incorrect. The date of the August special election is August 8. We regret the error,” the email reads.
Rob Nichols, a spokesperson for LaRose’s office, said the email was created using the wrong template.
“We regret that an email to poll workers using an old template was sent out this evening before final review and approval,” Nichols said. “A corrected email was sent immediately. The date of the August special election is, of course, Tuesday, August 8. We sincerely apologize for the error.”
LaRose, who holds a seat that is supposed to be non-partisan, has been leading the Republican’s crusade to pass Issue 1, which would make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution by raising the threshold from 50% to 60%. More specifically, LaRose has repeatedly admitted that Republicans want to prevent voters from amending the constitution in order to make it harder for Ohioans to legalize abortion in November.
Originally published by CityBeat, Scene’s sister paper in Cincinnati.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 8, 2023.