Ohio GOP Apologizes For ‘Collusion’ Claim in Ballot Box Case

(Bloomberg) -- The Republican Party of Ohio apologized to a state appeals court for a public statement issued last week accusing a judge of colluding with Democrats on a ruling to expand access to ballot drop boxes.

The GOP issued the apology through a lawyer at a hearing Friday in Columbus before urging the appeals court to revive a rule limiting each county to a single drop box at the local election office -- regardless of population.

“That will not happen again,” the lawyer, Edward Carter, said of the now-withdrawn statement.

Last week, after state court Judge Richard A. Frye ruled the drop-box restriction put in place by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was “arbitrary and unreasonable,” the state Republican party accused the judge of issuing a politically biased ruling and leaking it to Democrats.

Democrats have asked for the state GOP to be held in contempt of court.

The episode illustrates the bitter divide between Republicans and Democrats over the issue of absentee ballots, which President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence will lead to a “rigged” election. The parties are battling in courts across the U.S. over rules governing mail-in ballots, a record number of which are expected to be cast this year as a result of the pandemic.

LaRose argued at the hearing that state law allowing voters to “personally deliver” ballots to a county election official can only be interpreted to mean delivery directly to their office. In a brief filed Thursday, LaRose compared using drop boxes located away from election offices to handing ballots to officials while they’re at a grocery store or stuck in traffic.

The Democratic Party of Ohio, which filed the lawsuit, called that argument a “spurious” red herring because election officials can only accept ballots at locations they specifically agree to -- not during random encounters.

Disputes over ballot drop box sites have taken on a new urgency as a result of controversial delivery problems at the U.S. Postal Service, which are expected to prompt many voters to personally deliver ballots to drop boxes instead of relying on the mail.

The appeals court ended the hearing without issuing a ruling.

The case is Ohio Democratic Party v. LaRose, No. 20-cv-5634, Ohio Court of Common Pleas (Franklin County.)

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