MCBOE Chair David Betras commends Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose for taking affirmative steps to protect and promote democracy, slams Commissioners for their ongoing and utter failure to ensure the integrity of elections in Mahoning County

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Today I issued a formal response to Secretary of State Frank LaRose regarding the condition of the Mahoning County Board of Elections facility and our ongoing efforts to comply with all state-mandated security and operational requirements.
First, I want to thank Secretary LaRose for his personal engagement and concern for Mahoning County. His attention to our situation and his willingness to collaborate with us to ensure safe, secure, and accessible elections is sincerely appreciated.
For several years, I have repeatedly warned the Mahoning County Commissioners that the Board of Elections building was deteriorating and that a serious infrastructure failure was likely. Nearly one year before the September 29 pipe leak, I specifically raised the possibility of exactly this kind of incident. Unfortunately, those warnings proved accurate. We were fortunate the leak occurred during business hours; had it happened overnight, we could have lost millions of dollars in voting equipment.
I have documented the deplorable conditions inside the facility with photographs, and I have made numerous presentations before the commissioners outlining the risks. During one of those presentations, I provided them with the very directives and requirements referenced by the Secretary of State, including Chapter 3 of the Election Official Manual and Directive 2025-29. Suggestions that these directives were unknown to the commissioners are simply not true.
Regarding compliance, the Board recently completed a cybersecurity audit and is finalizing all required documentation. I would like to publicly commend Chris Rakocy for his exceptional work in helping us meet these obligations.
Our most serious challenges, however, remain tied to the condition of the building itself. Progress on necessary upgrades only began after I publicly stated at a commissioners meeting that we were out of compliance. The fire suppression system was brought into compliance only recently and only after significant delay at the county level. We are still awaiting completion of the required alarm system upgrade but have been told it will be finished shortly.
The water line that caused September’s leak has been reactivated, and our voting machines remain positioned beneath those pipes. The current facility does not allow for any safe alternative storage. While state best practices call for election offices and voting equipment to be housed together in a secure and suitable location, the Board has not been provided with another site. Despite repeated assurances that a new home is forthcoming, no concrete plan or timeline has been presented to us.
It is important for the public to understand that this is not a theoretical concern. Earlier this summer, we were forced to close the office due to an air-conditioning system failure and persistent odors within the building. We have prepared contingency plans for catastrophic facility failures because, in our current building, such failures remain a very real possibility.
Mahoning County’s voters deserve the same level of electoral security and stability enjoyed in every other county in Ohio. The Board of Elections is doing everything within its authority to meet the state’s requirements, but without a new facility, the risk to our election infrastructure cannot be fully mitigated.
We appreciate the Secretary of State’s partnership in addressing these challenges, and we remain ready to work with all county officials to ensure that Mahoning County’s elections continue to meet the highest standards of security and reliability.
Read SOS LaRose’s letter to the MCBOE here: Letter from Secretary of State Frank LaRose