FBI agents raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative on Thursday and also went to the homes of leaders and staff members across Ohio, in a search that stretched from one office into private residences statewide. Some agents carried subpoenas and sought information and electronic devices, according to people briefed on the search.
By Thursday night, Prentiss Haney said agents had approached people connected to the group, including some who had done basic canvassing and volunteer work, and asked whether they were committing voter fraud. He said some agents showed up without warrants and called the visits intimidation tactics, saying they came to people’s doors and pressed them in front of their homes, sometimes with children present.
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative is a voter-registration group that works in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati and says it was formed in 2007 with a goal of expanding the number of registered voters, especially young voters and voters of color. It has also joined lawsuits challenging redistricting efforts and stand your ground laws, making it a familiar target for political scrutiny well beyond ordinary election work.
The group’s leaders contacted lawyers on Thursday to sort out their legal options, while the FBI and Justice Department did not immediately comment. Congresswoman Shontel Brown identified the targeted organization as the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and said, “Let me be very clear: voter registration is not voter fraud. Urban communities voting is not voter fraud. Black Americans voting is not voter fraud.”
The unanswered question now is what federal investigators are actually looking for. The fact that agents reportedly sought subpoenas, electronic devices and information, while the organization says it has done nothing wrong, leaves a search that looks less like a routine inquiry than a wider test of how aggressively federal authorities are willing to move against civil rights and voter-registration work in Ohio.
