BREAKING: for months, Ohio's SOS Larose has claimed that he wanted to expand drop boxes in Ohio counties, but that Ohio law prevented him from doing so.
Just now, all three judges in our drop box appeal agreed with us that nothing in Ohio law prevents him from adding more.
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"We agree with the trial court that the Secretary's interpretation of R.C. 3509.05 is not reasonable and that the statute neither prescribes nor prohibits ballot drop boxes at locations other than the boards of elections....
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"...If, as appellees argue, the Secretary wants to permit additional drop boxes, he has the authority to do so and nothing in this decision prohibits him from rescinding Directive 2020-16 and issuing a new directive accordingly."
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Now that the law is clarified....for the third time....as allowing more drop boxes, we call on Frank Larose to make good on his public and private commitment to add drop boxes.
There is still time to add them for the final weeks of this election.
END
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Yesterday, I drove to a food pantry in rural Ohio where I was told they were running out of food.
Here’s what I learned.
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The food pantry itself (in a town called Manchester) is doing heroic work to help those in need.
The dedicated staff and volunteers—aided by donations from local churches, Kroger, and some grant funding—are doing what they can.
Here’s what they told me:
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1) People generally come by the food bank once their SNAP benefits run out. So later in the month, as food support from SNAP runs out for families, the busier they get.
Trump has long made clear that he wants to deploy the American military into what he perceives as Democratic cities.
On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “unilaterally send troops into Democratic-run cities.”
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And it is well documented that in his first term, Donald Trump pressed to invoke the Insurrection Act in wake of the Black Lives Matters protests in June 2020.
That’s when he infamously asked military leaders:
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“Can’t you just shoot them?…Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
He even had an order drafted to that effect.
Thankfully, military leaders stood up to him then, which is one reason Hegseth being SecDef is so dangerous and disturbing.
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One thing I learned in life, as a middle child in my early teenage years, was that when you have a disagreement with someone, it’s best to stay focused on the point of that disagreement.
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While in the heat of the moment, it may be tempting to score all sorts of other points on other issues, all that usually does is risk creating a downward spiral that does far more lasting damage. Way beyond the actual point of disagreement.
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There are even some things you might say that are so nasty, so cutting, so deep—so revealing—that you will never repair the relationship.
Yesterday, it’s fair to say, America learned something….
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have not learned this basic principle.
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So, I ventured up to the Ohio Statehouse yesterday to testify against the terrible SAVE Act equivalent — SB153 — that is now before the Ohio Senate. Thank you to so many other democracy champions—of both parties—for speaking out
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But…most of the people gathered in the hearing room were not there to oppose SB153.
They were there to talk about another bill.
To set the scene, here’s a photo of the hearing room. Not an empty seat.
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Which is why many of us were sent to an overflow room, which amid the testimony, would burst into applause after each speaker.