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Frank LaRose Warns Against Spreading Election Misinformation

photo of Frank LaRose at a podium
KAREN KASLER
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says President Trump should not be "fearmongering" about election administration.

The state’s chief elections officer is criticizing President Trump and other key figures for sharing rumors and false information related to voting, recently about the Iowa caucuses but going all the way back to the 2016 election. This comes as Ohioans prepare to start early voting in two weeks for the presidential primary in March.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said posting conspiracy theories about voting that cast doubt on the fairness and accuracy of U.S. elections shouldn’t be tolerated – no matter where it comes from.

“It is irresponsible to fearmonger about elections administration. Doesn’t matter who you are. And certainly, if you have the largest megaphone in the world, you should think very carefully before you say something that would cause people to lose faith in elections.”

LaRose urges people using social media to think before they share, because posting can be viewed as validating information for friends.

larose_height_of_irresponsibility.mp3
Height of irresponsibility

“When that is done for partisan political gain, it is the height of irresponsibility. And we all should think before we do something like that and we shouldn’t do something like that.”

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.