Ohio Secretary of State Race Heats Up Over Election Integrity

Democratic state Representative Allison Russo and Republican State Treasurer Robert Sprague are the two candidates vying for Ohio’s Secretary of State in the November election. Russo visited the Zanesville NAACP chapter, emphasizing that voting access is essential for accountable government and warning that Republican rhetoric seeks to suppress minority voters. Sprague, meanwhile, has framed his campaign around “secure elections,” supporting the 2020 Issue 2 constitutional amendment that limits voting to U.S. citizens and advocating measures such as photo ID requirements and the elimination of ballot‑harvesting drop boxes. Both candidates claim to protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections, with Sprague accusing non‑citizen registration as a concern and Russo asserting that non‑citizen voting has been illegal for decades and that restrictions are used to disenfranchise eligible voters.