Southeast
Ohio secretary of state says Biden admin, leftist groups are pushing back on voter roll audits
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose detailed efforts by the Biden-Harris administration and liberal groups to push back on audits of voter rolls across the country ahead of Election Day.
LaRose highlighted his own lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at forcing the administration to share data he says would help identify non-citizens who are registered to vote. The ACLU and other left-leaning groups have also challenged efforts to clean up voter rolls in Ohio and other states.
“It should come as no surprise that the irresponsible Biden-Harris administration, who has thrown open the doors on the southern border; who has allowed our nation to be invaded in many ways… are also not allowing me as an election official to access data to prove that only American citizens are able to vote,” LaRose said.
“It’s shocking, and they left me no choice but to sue them,” he added.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sued the Biden administration to gain access to federal records. (Getty Images)
The lawsuit claims there were four instances in which Ohio’s requests for access to federal Person Centric Query Service (PCQS) and Central Index System 2 (CIS2) records were ignored or denied.
“On October 10, 2024, nearly three months after first requesting assistance, Secretary LaRose received a response from DHS. The letter claimed that Ohio’s access to the SAVE program was sufficient—despite Ohio’s previous letters explaining why SAVE is largely useless here because Ohio lacks the identifiers needed to find specific individuals in SAVE,” the lawsuit reads.
Ohio’s ongoing search for wrongful voter registrations relies on analysis and cross-checks against records provided by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, the Social Security Administration, federal jury pool data and other resources.
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While LaRose’s office can access the SAVE database, states using it have to pay $1.50 for each query for records, and finding the information required to properly search the data is cumbersome, LaRose says.
The PCQS data the Biden administration has declined to share would provide a more comprehensive picture of whether any non-citizens remain registered to vote in Ohio, LaRose says.
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson said they are “engaged with Ohio and will continue to correspond with them directly through official channels.”
The ACLU sued LaRose’s office in an effort to stop certain people from having to verify their citizenship. (getty)
The DHS also pushed back on LaRose claim that the additional federal data would be helpful.
“A manual review of hundreds of thousands of records by the PCQS only allows users to submit one query at a time and would still not lead to a definitive result. Moreover, it would not be an efficient or accurate way to verify U.S. citizenship,” the DHS said.
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“PCQS returns aggregated results across many different immigration systems for a single query at a time. Use of PCQS would require manual review of the results in each case to determine immigration status, as the systems may return disparate or conflicting results. As such, PCQS is not an option for state and local agencies to use for voter verification purpose,” it added.
Voters across the country are prepared to head to the polls on Election Day. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
LaRose went on to detail efforts by liberal groups to block the removal of registrations.
“Just yesterday, we won a major lawsuit in federal court where the ACLU sued me – this sounds like something that’s in the Babylon Bee – they sued me to say that we should accept non-citizen ID cards and then just allow people to vote without any citizenship verification.”
“Thankfully, common sense prevailed and the ACLU lost that. Of course, if your state-issued driver’s license says ‘non-citizen’ on it, we’re not going to simply hand you a ballot. We’re gonna ask for you to verify your citizenship,” he added.
The Biden-Harris administration has attempted to block states from cleaning up their voter rolls in the final days before Election Day. (Tierney L. Cross)
The ACLU’s lawsuit pertained to naturalized citizens attempting to vote with an ID that labeled them a non-citizen due to it being obtained prior to their naturalization. The ACLU argued such citizens should be able to affirm their naturalization on a government document at the polling site, while LaRose argued such an individual must provide their naturalization documents before casting a ballot.
“Requiring naturalized citizens to bring additional documentation to verify their eligibility to vote is not only burdensome and discriminatory, it’s unlawful,” Freda Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, said of the suit.
A federal judge sided with LaRose on the issue last week.
LaRose added that the Justice Department has also sued states for attempting to remove bad registrations. Such DOJ lawsuits accuse state officials of violating the federally mandated “quiet period” that prohibits the systematic removal of registered voters within 90 days of Election Day.
The DOJ sued Virginia earlier in October in exactly this fashion, though the Supreme Court sided with state officials in a ruling last week.
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The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that absentee ballots that were mailed late to voters in Cobb County will only be counted if they arrive back to election officials by Election Day, sparking GOP leadership to take a victory lap.
“HUGE election integrity victory in Georgia. Democrat-run Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 absentee ballots AFTER the Election Day deadline. We took this case to the Georgia Supreme Court,” RNC chair Michael Whatley posted to X on Monday.
“We just got word that we WON the case. Election Day is Election Day – not the week after. We will keep fighting, keep winning, and keep sharing updates,” he added.
Last week, it was revealed that about 3,000 absentee ballots were mailed late to voters in Cobb County, with just days to spare ahead of Election Day. A county judge ruled on Nov. 1 that the Cobb County Board of Elections could count the ballots if they arrived by 5 p.m. Nov. 8, and were postmarked by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.
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Former President Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally at the J.S. Dorton Arena on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Monday, the state’s Supreme Court granted an emergency motion ruling that ballots will only be counted if they are received by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Voters cast their ballots during the last day of early voting in Gwinnett County, Georgia, on Nov. 1, 2024. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Consistent with OCGA § 21-2-386, the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration (the ‘Board’) may count only those absentee ballots received by the statutory deadline of 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 5, 2024.” the order reads.
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The ruling comes after the ACLU, ACLU of Georgia, and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit last week regarding roughly 3,000 voters in Cobb County who did not receive absentee ballots. A Superior Court judge subsequently ordered election officials to overnight mail the delayed absentee ballots, and ruled that the ballots should be counted if they are received by Nov. 8.
The ACLU lamented the state Supreme Court ruling on Monday, and urged “all affected voters to prioritize voting in person on Election Day, November 5, 2024, if at all possible.”
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, Nov. 4, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
“This afternoon, the Georgia Supreme Court denied relief for Cobb County voters who requested absentee ballots on time but did not receive them on time due to the county’s failure to mail them promptly. The lower court had ruled that an extension of the absentee receipt deadline was necessary in order to protect these voters’ constitutional right to vote, but the Georgia Supreme Court stayed that ruling, removing the relief that the lower court had ordered. The November 8 extension deadline that the earlier order had issued is no longer in effect,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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A Columbia, Tennessee man allegedly attempted to fly a drone packed with explosives into an energy facility before the FBI stopped him from destroying the critical infrastructure, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a press release, the DOJ said 24-year-old Skyler Philippi was arrested and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility.
“As charged, Skyler Philippi believed he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology – but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said. “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable.”
The DOJ said Philippi told a confidential human source (CHS) in June, that he wanted to commit a mass shooting at a YMCA in the Columbia, Tennessee area.
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Skyler Philippi took a picture with FBI undercover employees while holding pipe bombs. (Department of Justice)
Nearly a month later, he allegedly told another CHS that an attack on large interstate substations would “shock the system,” and cause other substations to malfunction.
According to the DOJ, Philippi researched previous attacks on electric substations, ultimately concluding that just using firearms was not enough. Instead, he planned to use a drone with explosives attached to it, and then fly the drone into a substation.
In September, Philippi allegedly went to a substation with undercover FBI employees that he had previously researched and conducted reconnaissance on.
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Skylar Philippi met with FBI undercover employees in an open area near Franklin, Tennessee, to test fly a drone. (Department of Justice)
While on the way, Philippi allegedly ordered C-4 and other explosives from the undercover employees, then later purchased black powder to put into pipe bombs. The DOJ said Philippi intended to use the pipe bombs during the attack on the substation.
He also allegedly texted the confidential source, “if you want to do the most damage as an accelerationist, attack high economic, high tax, political zones in every major metropolis.” Referring to the substation, Philippi stated, “Holy sh**. This will go up like a fu**in fourth of July firework.”
Philippi allegedly discussed the need for disguises, leather gloves, wearing shoes that are too big and the need to burn their clothes after attacking the substation. He also allegedly told the crew to not bring smartphones on the night of the attack.
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On Nov. 2, 2024, Philippi participated in a Nordic ritual and recited a Nordic prayer, the DOJ said.
“This is where the New Age begins,” Philippi reportedly told the undercover employees, adding it was time to do something big that would be remembered “in the annals of history.”
Philippi and the undercover employees drove to the site, and when they arrived, they moved to their assigned lookout positions before law enforcement agents arrested him.
The DOJ said Philippi was at the rear of the vehicle when he was arrested, where the drone was powered up. Next to the drone, the DOJ added, was an armed explosive.
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“Driven by a racially motivated violent extremist ideology, the Defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said. “The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage. We are committed to holding accountable anyone who threatens the security of our critical infrastructure or seeks to harm American communities through domestic violent extremism.”
Philippi was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
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Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, shared some political advice for Vice President Harris during a rally in Atlanta on Monday.
“Remember, her whole argument of her campaign is that she doesn’t even know who Joe Biden is, even though she’s the sitting vice president. And ‘The View’ host asked her, ‘What would you have done differently over the last four years? Would you have done anything differently than Joe Biden?’ And Kamala Harris says, ‘Nothing comes to mind,’” Vance said.
“The Harris-Walz slogan could be ‘Nothing comes to mind.’”
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Sen. JD Vance mocked Vice President Harris during a rally in Atlanta on Monday. (Fox News)
Vance was referencing the vice president’s recent interview with ABC’s “The View” where she conceded she would not have done much differently than President Biden has during their administration so far.
Harris said during the sit-down last month, “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of – and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact, the work that we have done.”
The Trump campaign and its allies immediately pounced on the clip as proof of their warnings that Harris would continue Biden’s most unpopular progressive policies if she wins the White House after Election Day on Nov. 5.
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Trump allies have been working to tie Harris closely to President Biden’s unpopular policies.
Speaking to voters in deep-blue Atlanta the night before, Vance also used the quote to accuse Harris of a lack of clear policy positions.
“Think about this, Kamala. What would you do to fix the broken policies to make groceries and housing more affordable? ‘Nothing comes to mind.’ Kamala Harris, what would you do to secure that southern border? ‘Nothing comes to mind,’” Vance said. “That’s what Kamala Harris’s campaign slogan could be.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for a response.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns have detailed policy platforms available on their websites. Harris’ says relatively little about the border, though she has shown support for the bipartisan border deal that collapsed against Republican opposition this year.
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More than 4 million people have already voted in Georgia. (Megan Varner/Washington Post)
Vance’s 11th-hour appeal to Georgia voters comes at the end of an election cycle where both campaigns poured enormous time and resources into the Peach State.
Biden won the traditionally red state by less than 1% in 2020. Democrats also made gains there in 2022, cementing its status as a key battleground.
More than 4 million Georgia voters have already cast ballots going into Election Day, roughly 55.5% of the state’s active voters.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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