Leading Ohio Republicans have asked a federal court to allow a law prohibiting foreign money in state ballot initiative campaigns to take effect for the 2024 election.
Filed on Tuesday by Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Attorney General Dave Yost, the filing asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division to place a stay on a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Michael Watson, a George W. Bush appointee, on Saturday. That ruling prevented the law — which was set to take effect on Sunday — from being enforced.
“The people of Ohio have made it clear that our elections are only for citizens,” LaRose said in a statement. “We’re especially not going to let foreign billionaires try to buy our constitution.”
Approved by lawmakers during Ohio’s special legislative session in May, HB 1 stipulates that foreign nationals are directly and indirectly prohibited from making “a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in support of or opposition to a statewide ballot issue or question, regardless of whether the ballot issue or question has yet been certified to appear on the ballot.” The legislation further barred foreign funds from being given to political parties, candidates, or campaigns — all of which are prohibited from “knowingly” accepting such monies.
The law was designed to stave off interference by foreign actors such as Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss national whose Berger Action Fund has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the left-wing Sixteen Thirty Fund. The latter group poured
