Let’s be honest about what Ohioans want from the next secretary of state. They want someone who will protect their right to vote, not someone who spends every election cycle casting doubt on the ballot. They want an elections chief who understands that democracy is built on trust, and that trust has to be earned every single day. I’m Allison Russo. I’ve spent four terms in the Ohio House representing Upper Arlington, and I’m running for secretary of state because Ohio deserves a leader who puts voters first. That might seem like an obvious thing to say, but it’s not what we’ve been seeing in recent years. Our current secretary of state is a Republican who has admitted, again and again, that election fraud in Ohio is “exceedingly rare.” Those are his words, not mine. But instead of building on that truth, his office keeps sending out dramatic press releases that make it sound like our elections are drowning in fraud. The result is a fog of suspicion that hangs over every election. When the top elections official treats voters like potential criminals, it changes the way people feel about casting a ballot. Some people start to believe their vote doesn’t matter. Some people stay home. That’s not a healthy democracy. It’s a self-inflicted wound. I’ve talked to voters who tell me they feel like the system is rigged. They don’t say it angrily; they say it sadly. That breaks my heart, because I know the truth: our elections are run by real people, in county boards across Ohio, with real checks and balances. But that truth is being buried under a mountain of partisan noise. Ohio needs a chief elections officer who will be a champion for voters, not a campaigner for fear. We need someone who will make it easy to vote, hard to cheat, and clear that our elections are secure. That’s the path to restoring confidence. It begins at the top, with a secretary of state who rejects partisan games and actually does the job.
Let’s address the fraud myth head-on, because it is the foundation of the fear we’re seeing. The numbers are clear: confirmed cases of double voting or illegal non-citizen voting make up less than 0.001 percent of all votes cast in Ohio. That is not a wave. That is not a crisis. That is essentially a phantom. Since 2020, exactly six cases have produced enough evidence to end in an actual conviction for voter fraud. Six. Out of millions of ballots. Now, let me be clear: every illegal vote is a serious matter, and every case should be prosecuted. We should always protect the integrity of the ballot. But we also have to be honest about what the data actually shows. It shows that Ohio’s election system is secure. It shows that the fraud narrative is not about evidence; it’s about perception. Some politicians, including President Donald Trump and my opponent, Robert Sprague, continue to peddle the same misinformation about widespread voting fraud. They describe a problem that doesn’t exist, and they do it with absolute confidence. Why? Because the false story of widespread voter fraud is useful. It gives politicians an excuse to make voting harder. It allows them to cast suspicion on ballots cast by people who may not support them. And it suppresses participation, especially among communities that have been told, over and over, that their votes won’t count. That is not election integrity. That is voter suppression dressed up in a suit and tie. We need to stop pretending that making voting harder makes elections fairer. The fairest system is one where every eligible citizen can vote, every lawful ballot is counted, and the people in charge defend that process instead of attacking it. If someone tells you there is widespread fraud in Ohio elections, don’t believe them. Ask for the evidence. The evidence doesn’t exist, because the problem doesn’t exist.
Beyond the fraud myth, there’s another trick: manipulating ballot language to confuse voters. Ohio is one of 26 states where citizens can take initiatives and referendums directly to the people. That is a powerful tool, especially when state lawmakers refuse to listen to public opinion. The clearest example is partisan gerrymandering. Ohioans have repeatedly made clear that they do not want politicians drawing legislative and congressional districts to predetermine election outcomes. Yet in 2024, when Citizens Not Politicians gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to put an anti-gerrymandering amendment on the ballot, the language voters saw was not honest. The secretary of state’s tie-breaking vote helped put that misleading language before the public. Let that sink in. The person responsible for making elections fair used their power to make a voter initiative less fair. That is a breach of trust, pure and simple. When ballot language is confusing, voters may vote against their own beliefs. They may skip the question entirely. Or they may lose faith in the process altogether. Imagine reading a ballot question written in a way that makes you think you’re supporting one thing while actually supporting the opposite. That’s not democracy. That’s a dirty trick. The secretary of state should be a neutral referee. Their job is to make sure voters understand what they’re voting on, not to tilt the scales for one side. But in Ohio, we’ve seen the office used as a political weapon. That has to stop. The next secretary of state should pledge to keep ballot language clear, accurate, and fair. No more word games. No more hidden agendas. Just a straight question for the voters, and an honest count of their answers.
Let’s talk about drop boxes, because they are one of the easiest ways to vote and one of the most attacked. Drop boxes are secure. They are monitored, often by video and by people. When ballots are collected, they are opened through a bipartisan process—one Republican and one Democrat present together. There is no evidence of fraud through ballot drop boxes in Ohio elections. None. Yet my opponent wants to eliminate them altogether. He has called them a risk and spread misinformation about “ballot harvesting.” During the primary, he even ran a television ad featuring a sock puppet to scare people. A sock puppet. That’s how weak the case against drop boxes really is. Think about what drop boxes actually do. They help parents with young children. They help people working double shifts who can’t get to the polls on Election Day. They help rural voters who live far from the county courthouse. They help seniors who can’t stand in long lines. Drop boxes give Ohioans a safe, convenient way to return their ballot, and they do not weaken security. They strengthen democracy by expanding participation. I’ve seen drop boxes work in my own district. They are used by ordinary people who just want to vote, and they are handled with care by election officials who take their responsibility seriously. That is not a threat to democracy. That is democracy working. If we want more people to participate, we should be making voting more accessible, not less. I believe every Ohio county should have at least one secure drop box. That shouldn’t be controversial. It shouldn’t require a debate. It should be common sense. But in today’s political climate, commonsense ideas are attacked because they make voting easier. That tells you everything about the motives behind the attack. It’s not about security. It’s about who votes and who stays home.
And then there’s your privacy. When you register to vote, you provide personal information to the state. That information should be protected. It should never be used to intimidate you, to profit from you, or to give an outside group a window into your choices. Ohioans should run Ohio elections. Voters deserve to know that their secretary of state will safeguard their data, not cave to a president, party leaders, or corporations who demand access to it. But my opponent brags that he will share voter records with the Trump administration, credit bureaus, and financial services companies. Let me ask you: Why? Why would a state elections office hand over private voter data to corporations? The answer is simple: power and profit. Credit bureaus and financial companies want to mine that data for business. Political allies want to use it for advantage. None of that is in your interest. It’s in their interest. If you wouldn’t hand your bank statements to a credit bureau, why would you hand over your voting records? The secretary of state should be the one standing between your data and those who want to exploit it. Instead, we have a candidate who is eager to hand it over. We also need to support bipartisan county boards of elections. Those boards are where elections are actually won and lost—not by candidates, but by the people who make sure every ballot is counted. They work long hours, often under attack, and they need funding, resources, and respect. When they are weakened, trust erodes. When they are supported, democracy thrives. The next secretary of state should empower them, not undermine them. That means making sure every county has the machines, staff, and security it needs. That is what election integrity actually looks like.
Finally, remember Election Night. Across Ohio, we watch the results come in county by county. It’s a slow, careful, transparent process. You can watch it happen with your own eyes. The people counting ballots are your neighbors, Republicans and Democrats working side by side. That is how elections should always be: open, bipartisan, and accountable. But this process will only remain strong if the person in charge of the secretary of state’s office believes in the system. We need someone who sets aside partisan politics, rejects election misinformation, and answers to all Ohio voters—not just to the party line. The last several years have been exhausting. We’ve seen one political stunt after another, all designed to cast doubt on the most basic act of democracy. Enough is enough. Ohioans deserve a secretary of state who will be honest about the facts, who will make voting easier, and who will protect every lawful ballot. I’m running because I believe we can do better. I believe we can restore trust in Ohio’s elections because I’ve seen the good people who run them. They are not part of a conspiracy. They are public servants doing difficult work with integrity. But they need leadership from the top that supports them, not scapegoats them. It starts with putting voters first. No more misinformation. No more confusing ballot language. No more attacks on drop boxes. No more selling out your privacy. Just a fair, secure, accessible system that works for everyone. That is the path forward. That is what I will fight for. And with your vote, that’s what we can achieve together.