The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it will be monitoring the 2024 general election in Portage County, Ohio, following suggestions by the local sheriff that residents keep track of people who vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
The county sits east of Akron and is home to roughly 160,000 people. It leans conservative, having gone for former President Donald Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 cycles in addition to now-Sen. JD Vance in 2022.
“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,” the department said in a statement.
It did not provide further information on the specific concerns but noted the department “regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections in communities all across the country.”
In mid-September, county Sheriff Bruce D. Zuchowski appeared to suggest in a Facebook post that residents make lists of any neighbors displaying signs in support of Harris.
“When people ask me…What’s gonna happen if the Flip – Flopping, Laughing Hyena Wins?? I say…write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards,” Zuchowski wrote, according to USA Today.
“Sooo…when the Illegal human ‘Locust’ (which she supports!) Need places to live…We’ll already have the addresses of their New families…who supported their arrival!”
In a follow-up post on his official Facebook page, the sheriff attempted to clarify his comments, which he said were being “misinterpreted.”
“If the citizens of Portage County want to elect an individual who has supported open borders (which I’ve personally visited Twice!) and neglected to enforce the laws of our Country…then that is their prerogative,” he wrote.
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He also went on Fox News to double down on that message, saying that while he was elected to serve all residents of Portage County, he had been fielding questions from people concerned about immigrants coming to live there. He cited the Haitian immigrant population in Springfield, Ohio — in the news recently thanks to widely circulated lies that they’re “eating pets” — even though said Haitian immigrants are in the country legally.
“We need to remember where these signs were, because when there’s nowhere else to put these people, I look at it as a welcome mat,” Zuchowski said on Fox News.
(It would, of course, be illegal to force residents to take in migrants.)
In response to his comments, the Portage County Board of Elections voted to temporarily prohibit Zuchowski and his deputies from providing security to the administration building while poll workers are trained and early voting takes place.
The Portage County chapter of the NAACP also held an “emergency meeting” on election threats, and more than 100 people showed up, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.