Secretary of State LaRose highlights the secure transport of ballots

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose highlighted on Wednesday one of Ohio’s Election Day operations — the secure transport of ballots from Kelleys Island to the Erie County Board of Elections.

Erie County election officials face challenges that officials in the other 88 Ohio counties will never need to deal with – retrieving ballots and transporting them to mainland Ohio via Lake Erie.

A bipartisan team of election officials works with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the US Coast Guard to accomplish the task.

“It’s a complex operation — but for the Erie County Board of Elections, the sheriff’s office, and their Coast Guard partners, it’s just another routine election night in Ohio,” LaRose said, according to the press release. “Every link in the chain works in concert to protect the integrity of each vote.”

Director Alex Jones, Erie County Board of Elections, said that “every vote is important, whether it is cast in the city, the suburbs or in a small community like Kelleys Island.”

“No matter where a ballot is cast, our job is to ensure that the polls are accessible, results are accurate, and every vote is secure,” Jones said.

Jones also thanked his team for transporting the ballots.

“We are incredibly grateful for our team — from the precinct election officials in the field to the election-night crew ensuring that ballots are transported securely back to the Board of Elections,” Jones said. “They make sure we continue to meet the high standard that Ohio voters have come to expect.”

LaRose agreed with Jones, saying that “every eligible Ohioan’s vote must be counted.” 

“Whether in a city, a rural township, or on a cold November night in the middle of Lake Erie, the mission remains the same: every eligible Ohioan’s vote must be counted — no matter where they live,” he said. “That is just another part of what makes Ohio the Nation’s Gold Standard of Elections.”

LaRose previously established himself as a fighter for election integrity in the state of Ohio. Ohio.News previously reported that LaRose won the lawsuit, protecting Ohio elections from foreign influence.

“The General Assembly acted quickly to stop it, and, almost immediately, activist groups sued to keep their foreign dollars flowing,” he said. “They failed, and Ohio’s ban on foreign dark money has been rightfully upheld. I want to thank my legal team and the attorney general’s office for their work in successfully defending this important law.”

Among other ways, LaRose was ensuring the integrity of the elections in the state by using an AI-powered election administration assistant, implementing interactive tools for Ohio voters, uncovering cases of voter fraud, inviting federal agents to look at Ohio’s voter data and preventing illegal immigrants and dead people from voting.