COLUMBUS – Ohio’s elections chief called an appeals court’s decision to halt a judge’s order allowing voters to apply for absentee ballots by fax or email “absolutely the right decision.”
Friday’s ruling by a Franklin County judge would allow voters to request avsentee ballots for the November presidential election by electronic means, something sought by Democrats in the pivotal swing state.
“Ohioans need to understand that forcing our county boards to open thousands of e-mailed attachments is not a secure online absentee ballot request system. It puts our elections system at a far greater risk of cyberattack,” GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in a statement issued by his off after the ruling.
The appeals court Saturday halted Friday’s preliminary injunction pending the outcome of an appeals process it said would be “expedited for briefing, oral argument, and determination.”
The Ohio Democratic Party called the earlier ruling a victory for voter access, but LaRose appealed, saying it “injects chaos into what was already a challenging election.”
He said Saturday that it would be “open season for hackers” to attack the data systems if Ohio’s county boards of elections, where applications are processed.