FBI investigation of Ohio Organizing Collaborative resurfaces group’s long history of scandals

Federal agents executed a search warrant at the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative last week as part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the group’s voter registration activities.

Agents seized documents and electronic devices, while subpoenas were issued to staff, volunteers, and affiliated entities.

OOC, a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Big Bets,” climate justice and redistricting grants, is a left-leaning nonprofit focused on community organizing and “racial justice” and has helped register tens of thousands of Ohio voters each election since 2007.

This week, I gathered elected officials, civic leaders, and clergy from across NE Ohio to speak out against Trump's FBI raid targeting voter registration, defend our right to vote, and demand answers from the FBI.

Voting is a right and we will not let Ohioans be intimidated. pic.twitter.com/tnM2VOSAli

— Rep. Shontel Brown (@RepShontelBrown) June 18, 2026

Describing the search as “Trump’s FBI raid,” Ohio Democrats and OOC board member Prentiss Haney have alleged that the ongoing investigation is a politically motivated effort to chill civic participation ahead of midterms.

Yet the investigation occurs against a well-documented history of issues within the organization and, more recently, within its founder.

The Ohio Organizing Collaborative has a documented history of voter registration fraud. In 2017, paid canvasser Rebecca A. Hammonds, who worked directly for the group …She was sentenced to six months in jail. Some of the fraudulent registrations were even submitted for dead…

— Paul Ruskov Benedict (@paulbenedict7) June 12, 2026

In 2017, Rebecca A. Hammonds, a paid OOC canvasser, “made a mockery of our system,” according to Columbiana County Common Pleas Judge C. Ashley Pike. Hammonds, who was charged with 35 counts of registering deceased voters, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of falsifying voter registrations in Columbiana County.

“You attempted to violate the integrity of our election process,” Salem News quoted Pike as saying in sentencing Hammonds to six months in jail. “…You made a mockery of our system.”

🚨BREAKING! THREAD! 🧵1. Ohio NGO “Black Fork Strategies” exposed by citizen activists for submitting “FRAUDULENT” voter registrations!

A @truethevote exclusive MUST READ report by @wmahoney5. pic.twitter.com/JLG2p61raZ

— True the Vote (@TrueTheVote) August 2, 2024

More recently, however, county Boards of Elections in Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Franklin, and others flagged irregularities in submissions from Black Fork Strategies LLC, a firm founded and owned by OOC board member and co-founder Kirk Noden.

Issues, which included duplicate forms, same-handwriting batches, and registrations in the names of deceased individuals, came to light when homeowners notified the BOEs that unknown individuals had been falsely registered to vote at their home addresses.

Jennifer Loshark, a Dublin resident who had lived in her home since 2005, discovered that someone had used her address to submit a fraudulent voter registration form through canvassers from Black Fork Strategies.

“I said no, no, no. There’s something weird going on,” Loshark told The Dispatch in September 2024.

Loshark, who alerted the Franklin County Board of Elections after receiving the falsified voter registration notice, was one of over 20 individuals who had flagged such irregularities, according to meeting minutes from 2024.

Ohio's LaRose refers alleged election violations for prosecutions: Also referred were allegedly fraudulent voter registration forms on behalf of Black Fork Strategies LLC. https://t.co/ze04IEjWpF pic.twitter.com/N1UXahCj6N

— Janie Johnson – America is Exceptional (@jjauthor) August 13, 2024

Across 20 different County Boards of Elections, Black Fork Strategies LLC was identified as the origin of the suspicious forms submitted, resulting in referrals to Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

LaRose, who then submitted the evidence of suspected violations to law enforcement, said every allegation would be taken seriously.

“We take every allegation of wrongdoing in our elections seriously, whether it’s a fake signature on a petition, a fraudulent voter registration form or a stolen vote,” LaRose said in a 2024 release. “Today we’re handing over evidence to prosecutors in 20 counties, where dishonest individuals were apparently trying to game the system. Every one of these has the potential to fraudulently impact an election, and, even though fraud is rare, it’s important to keep it that way by sending a clear message that misconduct won’t be tolerated.”

This weekend on #PoliticsNation, I spoke with Prentiss Haney of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative about the recent FBI raids targeting the organization and its staff.

With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, concerns are growing over voter intimidation, civic engagement, and… pic.twitter.com/f4sLDSBfvk

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 16, 2026

OOC and Black Fork have attributed problems to isolated “bad apples” among canvassers, while supporters have largely downplayed any connection to the targeted FBI search, calling it “voter intimidation.”

“Critics of Ohio’s election integrity efforts may try to minimize the significance of these referrals, as though some small amount of election crime is acceptable,” LaRose wrote in a letter to Attorney General Yost.

“Even one illegal vote can spoil the outcome of an election for the citizenry at large, whether it be a school levy, majority control of a legislative chamber, or even a statewide election contest. Just this last election, a single vote in Licking County decided the outcome of a local levy after the final certified count.”

Federal officials, including the FBI Cleveland Field Office, have confirmed activity but have offered no further public details on the sealed warrant — typical in ongoing investigations.