Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, who is running in the Republican primary for secretary of state, said he wants to eliminate drop boxes and limit those who can vote absentee.

Sprague said, “We want elections to be secure, and the drop boxes are a way where people can cheat by putting other people’s ballots in them. It’s impossible to enforce.”

Sprague added, “They are a creature of COVID because people didn’t want to come in contact with one another. Their time of usefulness has passed. People need to walk the extra 50 feet 30 days before the election, while people can vote when boards of elections are open 8 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.) They can just walk the extra 30 feet and hand it to a board of elections worker.”

The two Democrats running for their party’s nomination for the state’s top elections officer in Tuesday’s primary — state Rep. Allison Russo and Bryan Hambley, a cancer doctor — strongly disagree with Sprague’s proposals.

Russo said, “Ballot drop boxes are a convenient and safe way for voters to drop off absentee ballots, such as limited mobility, working people who don’t have flexible schedules, and students home on weekends. It’s been used for many years without any issues.”

With boards of elections not open around the clock, Russo said Sprague’s argument that people can drop off ballots when the offices are opened is “a very privileged perspective to have. Not everyone has the mobility to get into the board of elections physically to drop off absentee ballots.”

Sprague said, “There is some effort that has to be put into exercising our rights, including our right to vote, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask people. Certainly, there’s no suppression here because you’ve got 30 days to deliver that ballot or to make that vote. It’s very, very easy.”

Russo and Hambley support more drop boxes, which are required under state law to have security cameras monitor them at all times. State law also restricts one drop box per county.

Hambley said, “Drop boxes make it easier for people to vote. It’s tough for some people to vote if you don’t have them. I’ve been disappointed that Robert Sprague has followed the Republican Party all the way to the far, far right on drop boxes.”

Marcell Strbich, Sprague’s opponent in next week’s Republican primary for secretary of state, also supports the elimination of drop boxes, eliminating absentee voting and requiring election boards to hand count votes.

Stephanie Penrose, the director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, said she doesn’t support the elimination of drop boxes, saying close to one-third of those who have voted absentee in the upcoming election have put their ballots in the board’s drop box.

Penrose said, “People have confidence in the drop boxes because there’s a camera on it. They shouldn’t be eliminated.”

Russo and Hambley also say Sprague’s contention of widespread voter fraud is false.

Sprague said Tuesday, “Voter fraud is limited. You’re talking about a small percentage, but it’s real. It has to be protected against. My goal is to run the most secure elections in the history of the state of Ohio.”

Sprague added: “In many cases, we’ve lost trust in some of our governmental institutions. I want to make sure that people are able to trust the elections in the state of Ohio.”

Republican Frank LaRose, the current secretary of state, has referred 119 cases of alleged voter fraud for prosecution. About a dozen resulted in charges.

Sprague said he wants to see county prosecutors take “these cases more seriously. It’s not just what you know, but what you can prove in the court of law.”

Sprague said prosecutors are dealing with major crimes, so allegations of voter fraud “get pushed to the bottom of the pile,” but they are felonies and need to be taken seriously.

Russo said, “There is this myth of widespread voter fraud in our elections, and there is no evidence of that. We have a candidate (Sprague) who is arguing for restrictions and wants to take away alternatives to return your ballots. It’s all under a false argument of widespread voter fraud, and it causes more votes to not be counted. By putting up more and more hurdles for people to vote, we’re making it more difficult for people to access the ballot.”

Russo said denying people the right to vote is “far more damaging than one case of voter fraud.”

Hambley said the state should “make it easier to vote and needs to make it harder for the secretary of state to use partisan tactics to cull the voter rolls. Republicans have been using election policies to put their thumb on the scale so that their party is more likely to win an election when it’s become an increasingly unpopular party in the state of Ohio.”

Sprague also wants to make Election Day a state holiday and return to largely in-person voting, which was the case before 2005, when no-fault absentee voting was enacted into law.

Sprague said, “We’ll still reserve those mail-in ballots for the people that have a valid excuse. If you’re convalescing, if you’re in the nursing homes, you have to work that day, you’re an emergency responder, you’re overseas military, so on and so forth. That’s fine. We certainly are going to make an accommodation for you, and you will be able to vote absentee, but I would like to see us go back to in-person voting.”

Hambley and Russo said they vehemently oppose reducing people having the ability to vote absentee.

Hambley said he and his wife are voting absentee.

Strbich called for “no universal vote by mail.”