Disputes over access to the vote intensify as Ohioans begin to cast ballots

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Several disputes over voter rights in Ohio were unresolved Tuesday as the state began accepting early ballots in this fall’s election for president, a key U.S. Senate race and a redistricting measure.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose had not yet responded to Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, which notified him last week that voters were being systematically removed from the rolls in several counties as a result of third-party challenges. The advocacy groups alleged the actions violate provisions of the National Voting Registration Act.

LaRose’s office said he had cast a tie vote keeping most of the challenged voters in one of the counties, Delaware, on the rolls. He is reviewing claims in three additional counties.

National groups allied with former President Donald Trump have been facilitating these citizen-powered efforts to systematically challenge the legitimacy of large numbers of voter registrations. LaRose praised their efforts and believes accurate voter rolls are a core tenet of any well-run election, said spokesman Dan Lusheck.

“Ohio runs some of the most transparent elections in the nation, and we are proud of that,” Lusheck said.

Meanwhile, minority Democrats at the Ohio Statehouse carried on questioning LaRose's removal of 155,000 voter registration records in August. He has said the legally required actions targeted registration records of inactive, noncitizen, deceased or otherwise ineligible voters.

On Monday, state Rep. Elliot Forhan, a Cleveland-area Democrat, filed a formal challenge asking the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to restore 741 voters in the county — a Democratic stronghold potentially pivotal in U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's tight reelection bid against Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno.

State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, another Democrat from the Cleveland area, sent a letter to LaRose on Tuesday reiterating her earlier request for additional records involving the office's removal processes. Her office uncovered more than 1,000 wrongfully removed voters in Cuyahoga County alone with the help of previously released records, she said, and requested a third-party audit.

“If Frank LaRose isn’t going to ensure all eligible voters have the right to vote in Ohio, the least he can do is give me the public records, so I can do it for him,” Sweeney said in a statement.

Lusheck said LaRose's office produced records responsive to Sweeney's request back in June. “She did not follow up requesting additional records that I’m aware of until she decided to pull her own political stunt,” he said.

Also yet to be resolved is the Ohio Democratic Party's September lawsuit challenging a LaRose directive that prevents people who are helping voters with disabilities drop off their ballots from using drop boxes.

The secretary issued his order after a federal judge struck down portions of Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law in July, allowing more classes of people to help voters with disabilities deliver their ballots. It affirmed the helpers could do so, but added requirements that they drop the ballots inside board of elections offices and sign a form vouching for their identities.

LaRose called the move a precaution against ballot harvesting. Democrats said that it is illegal.

Three of the Ohio Supreme Court's seven justices — two Democrats and a Republican, all seeking office this fall — have recused themselves in the case. A fourth was asked to, but refused.

The Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party said Tuesday they have moved to intervene in the case.

“Secretary LaRose has taken critical steps to safeguard Ohio’s elections, but once again Democrats are trying to dismantle commonsense protections that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” national committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. "This is yet another poorly veiled attempt to eliminate ballot safeguards and interfere right before the election — and we will stop them.”

Voters enter the early voting center for the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Voters wait outside of the Franklin County Board of Elections for the first day of in person early voting in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Voters wait outside of the Franklin County Board of Elections for the first day of in person early voting in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Poll worker Susan Henry directs voters to check in for the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Voters cast their ballots during the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Voters cast their ballots during the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Campaign signs are posted outside of the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

FILE - Ohio Secretary of State and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Frank LaRose speaks to supporters during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ohio, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)

Voters cast their ballots during the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Voters enter the early voting center for the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida gas stations struggled to keep up with demand Tuesday as long lines and empty pumps compounded the stress for residents planning to hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state's western coast.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference that state officials, including the Florida Highway Patrol, were working with fuel companies to continue bringing in gasoline ahead of Milton's expected landfall on Wednesday. Troopers escorted 27 fuel trucks to stations Monday night, DeSantis said.

Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, said “replenishments are happening,” but about 16.5% of Florida stations were out of fuel as of Tuesday afternoon — up from 3.5% a day earlier. More than 43% of the stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area had no gasoline as of late Tuesday morning, according to GasBuddy.

DeSantis outlined replenishment efforts during his morning news conference.

“We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out,” DeSantis said. “So we currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel, 110,000 gallons of gasoline. Those numbers are less than what they were 24 hours ago because we’ve put a lot in, but we have an additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline that is currently en route to the state of Florida.”

DeSantis stressed that there wasn't a fuel shortage.

“That’s technically correct. Fuel is flowing, but stations can’t keep caught up,” De Haan said. “But it’s hard to tell somebody that's at a pump with a bag over it that there’s no shortage.”

“You've got to have patience,” Stephanie Grover-Brock, a Tampa resident in line for gasoline in the Riverview area, said Tuesday morning. “It's a little aggravating. You've got to be patient, be determined and just have grace.”

Nearby, motorist Ralph Douglas said some gas stations in Ruskin, where he lives, ran out of gas, but he was able to find fuel elsewhere.

Also in line was Martin Oakes of Apollo Beach.

“I was able to get some gas yesterday, but then they ran out,” Oakes said, waiting in a slow-moving line. “So now I'm trying to get gas here again and, you know, long lines, trickling gas pumps.”

Oakes and Grover-Brock said they were not in evacuation zones and did not plan to leave.

Ned Bowman, spokesperson for the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association, said the situation was typical for a Florida hurricane — with demand peaking and some stations temporarily running dry. He said suppliers are “constantly” moving fuel to stations.

“Have patience,” Bowman said. “It's out there.”

AAA told The Associated Press it would advise Floridians to “take only what you need” and if evacuating, to avoid letting one's gas tank get too low before looking for a place to fill up.

DeSantis said during his news conference there is enough gasoline for those who are evacuating.

“You do not have to get on the interstate and go far away,” DeSantis said. “You can evacuate tens of miles. You do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away. You do have options.”

McGill reported from New Orleans.

This story corrects that more than 43% of the stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area had no gasoline as of late Tuesday morning, not Wednesday morning.

Motorists wait in line to fill gas tanks Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Riverview, Fla., before Hurricane Milton makes landfall along Florida's gulf coast. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 12:15 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

A sign on a home lists hurricane names in preparation for Hurricane Milton on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in New Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Gas pumps are covered at a station Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Clearwater Beach, Fla., ahead of the possible arrival of Hurricane Milton. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Highway signage announces the impending arrival of Hurricane Milton and the evacuations zones on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)