Letter Requesting Secretary Larose’s Recusal in Ballot Board Hearing
Sarah Huffman
Deputy Chief Legal - Elections
Office of the Ohio Secretary of State
shuffman@OhioSoS.Gov
The Honorable Frank LaRose, Chair
Ohio Secretary of State
180 Civic Center Dr., Fifth Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
The Honorable Theresa Gavarone
Ohio Senate
1 Capitol Square, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
The Honorable Paula Hicks-Hudson
Ohio Senate
1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
William N. Morgan
8740 Soutsville Pike
Stoutsville, Ohio 43154
The Honorable Terrence Upchurch
Ohio House
77 S. High St., Floor 10
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Re: Request to Recuse Secretary LaRose
Dear Ms. Huffman,
I represent the R.C. Section 3519.02 Committee that sponsors the Untitled citizen initiative that was recently certified to the Ballot Board by the Attorney General and is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 10:30 am in the Grant Hearing Room of the Ohio Statehouse. I respectfully request that you deliver this Request to Recuse Secretary LaRose to Secretary LaRose and the members of the Ballot Board.
My clients respectfully request that Secretary LaRose recuse himself from participating in the Ballot Board’s consideration of whether their Untitled Citizen Initiative includes only a single subject. Secretary LaRose has repeatedly over the past several months publicly expressed hostility towards my clients’ proposed initiative – which proposes to abrogate immunities for public officials (including police officers) -- as well as to the sponsors of that initiative themselves. He has made false allegations about the sponsors and the initiative, claiming that it is being financed by “the radical left,” Jim Provance, Toledo Blade, Ohio Constitutional amendment proposed to eliminate qualified immunity, Aug. 10, 2023, https://www.toledoblade.com/local/politics/2023/08/10/constitutional-amendment-proposed-to-eliminate-qualified-immunity/stories/20230810138, constitutes an “assault on our state constitution,” id., and “threatens to unleash a flood of frivolous, politically motivated lawsuits against the brave men and women trying to protect our communities.” Id. See also Attachment at 1 (LaRose Press Release, Aug., 10, 2023).
Secretary LaRose has publicly stated that the initiative’s passing “would be a really ugly thing if that were to be successful, and that’s why again on that one, I’ll be speaking out in opposition to that.” Carlos Mathis, Ohio Statehouse News, Proposed amendment Aims to end qualified immunity, Aug. 13, 2023, https://www.wdtn.com/statehouse-news/proposed-amendment-aims-to-end-qualified-immunity/.
Most recently, in response to the AG’s certification of the Untitled initiative presently before the Board, Secretary LaRose publicly tweeted on X that its certification proved his prediction that Ohio was becoming the “new California, where voters are subjected to an unending parade of extremist dark-money funded ballot issues and amendment campaigns. We predicted this tsunami was coming last year ….” Attachment at 3-4.
Secretary LaRose’s claims that the Untitled initiative is part of an “unfounded parade of extremist dark-money funded ballot issues” and a product of the “radical left” are demonstrably false. But even they were true, they provide further evidence of his bias in this matter. Coupled with his public statements against the initiative, and his admission that he will be “speaking out in opposition to that,” it is plain that Secretary LaRose is not neutral in this matter. Not only does an appearance of bias exist, actual debilitating bias has been admitted by Secretary LaRose in his public statements. Compare Ohio Jud. Cond. R. 2.11(A) (“A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned”). Recusal is required.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark R. Brown
Mark R. Brown
Attorney for Cynthia Brown, Carlos Buford, and Jenny Sue Rowe, R.C. Section 3519.02
Committee for Untitled Initiative
