About fifteen years ago, an organization called ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which worked to register and empower low-income voters, as well as fight things such as predatory lending and the privatization of education, was enmeshed in scandal based primarily on its voter registration drives. Some of its workers were found to have forged registration forms, although few of them were actually found to be fraudulent: most of the rejected ones were duplicates. This isn’t the same as “voter fraud.” Registration forms are turned in to boards of election which sort out duplicates and ineligible voters. Much of the scandal was pushed by undercover rightwing operatives who misrepresented and framed the organization, which was ultimately largely exonerated. But it was effectively destroyed — as intended.
Now a more powerful force appears to be following that playbook. On Thursday June 11, the FBI raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organization Collaborative which, like ACORN, works to give a voice to lower-income and working people through advocacy for issues social, racial and economic justice, and voter registration drives. They also fanned out across the state and accosted workers and volunteers at their homes. It’s unclear what they were looking for or what they suspected the organization of doing. But it comes at a time when Republican candidates for statewide offices and the U.S. Senate are facing serious challenges from Democratic opponents. Sending more than 100 agents to swoop in on so many locations smacks of intimidation theater. Where are the charges? What is the crime that requires an operation worthy of busting a sex trafficking ring?
Some doomsters are pushing clickbait narratives about Trump cancelling elections (he can’t) or declaring “martial law” (equally unlikely) to scare voters from the polls. These are dramatic but illegal and probably not feasible ideas. Voter suppression may not be as exciting to talk about, but it’s the actual way those in power are hoping to hang onto their power.
Other states have put the kibosh on voter registration campaigns by turning simple mistakes made by voter registration workers, or failure to jump accurately through an increasing number of procedural hoops, into crimes. The FBI turning up at your door after you’ve stood outside a supermarket registering voters will make you unlikely to want to do that again. That undermines voter registration efforts and mean that the poorest, least educated, most overburdened citizens are less likely to receive the information they need about the increasingly complicated voting process as Republicans keep changing the rules and inserting superfluous roadblocks. (Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose boasts out of one side of his mouth about what fair and fraud-free elections he runs and out of the other promotes new obstacles to voting to prevent the fraud he says he doesn’t exist.)
Ohio Democrats are speaking out about what seems like an attempt to depress registration and suppress the vote. Gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton said, “I am deeply troubled by reports that FBI agents raided an Ohio voter registration organization in Cleveland. Any attempts by federal law enforcement to intimidate eligible Ohioans from registering to vote are unacceptable. Both Republicans and Democrats attest to the security of Ohio’s elections, and it is important that eligible Ohio voters feel safe registering to vote and casting their ballots this November.”
Eleventh District Congresswoman Shontel Brown said, “Trump’s FBI raided Cleveland and sent federal agents across the state to harass Ohioans who did nothing more than help their neighbors register to vote. This is a diabolical abuse of power. Donald Trump is once again weaponizing the federal government to intimidate political opponents, to interfere with the midterms and voter registration, especially in Black and brown communities. This president and MAGA Republicans know their power is slipping, and they fear if elections are free and voters can participate in our democracy, then they will lose. My office has already opened an inquiry with the FBI and we are demanding answers about this outrageous power grab.”
Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, now running to unseat Republican Jon Husted, posted, “Republicans are attempting to intimidate and disenfranchise Ohio voters because they know they can’t win a fair fight. The President of the United States and Kash Patel are exploiting their power to stack the cards in their favor for the election. It’s voter suppression, plain and simple. Any attempt to intimidate Ohioans is wrong, and we won’t back down.”
And Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell, who is running against Frank LaRose to be Ohio’s next state auditor, added, “The FBI’s raid on the Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s Cleveland office raises serious concerns that transcend party lines. Federal agents appeared at the homes of voter registration volunteers and staff, in front of their families, some without warrants, questing them about fraud without any stated evidence. Regardless of where one stands politically, that should trouble every Ohioans who believes in constitutional rights.”
She asks that elected officials of both parties condemn voter intimidation, demand transparency from federal organization operating in Ohio and affirm commitment to fair, free elections.
We’ll let you know if we hear from any Republicans.