The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will oversee voting in Portage County, Ohio, weeks after the county sheriff was accused of making a statement intimidating supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski had posted on Facebook last month that people should “write down all the addresses” of residents with Harris signs in their yard, so that immigrants can be sent to live with them. Zuchowski later claimed that the post had been “a little misinterpreted.”
The county election board, days after the post, voted to remove the Sheriff’s Department from the election security used for in-person early voting. On Tuesday, the DOJ said it would be monitoring compliance of federal voting laws in the county during early voting and on Election Day.
“Voters in Portage County have raised concerns about intimidation resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process. Attempted or actual intimidation, threats or coercion directed toward any person for voting and related activities or urging or aiding others in voting is prohibited by Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” the Justice Department said in a news release.
The county sheriff’s office told the Associated Press Tuesday that “monitoring of voting locations/polls by the DOJ is conducted nationwide and is not unique to Portage County. This is a normal practice by the DOJ.”
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Early voting in Ohio began earlier this month and continues through Nov. 3. Election Day in the state and nationwide is Nov. 5.
Ohio is rated as “solid Republican” for the presidential race by the Cook Political Report, after voting for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, but it will have one of the most hotly contested Senate races, between Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Republican Bernie Moreno. The Senate race has been rated as a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report and could be pivotal to Republicans’ chances of winning a majority in the chamber.