The complaint alleges that Strbich, who took a class on Sept. 25 to become a Montgomery County precinct election official (PEO), was not trained on how to identify photo ID cards issued to noncitizens. Strbich is represented by lawyer Curt Hartman.
“It’s an issue of fairness and an issue of following the law,” Strbich told the Dayton Daily News in an interview.
Montgomery County Board of Elections Director Jeff Rezabek said his office cannot comment on the specifics of the pending litigation. He said the election board is complying with all training requirements for precinct election officials.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a directive in June asking county election officials to include lessons on how to verify a voter’s identity with a photo ID card and how to ensure that “only legally permissible forms of photo ID are accepted,” according to the directive.
When Ohio’s updated voter ID law went into effect last year, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles added a noncitizen label to the back of Ohio driver’s licenses and state IDs given to immigrants.
Lawyers representing Montgomery County responded to the complaint on Wednesday, calling for the case to be dismissed with prejudice.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections office offers multiple training sessions to election volunteers, including training for new pollworkers, voting location managers and supervisors, as well as training for returning volunteers of all kinds, according to its website.
Strbich said he did not communicate concerns with the Montgomery County Board of Elections directors but said he pointed out information about non-citizen designations on state-issued photo IDs to his PEO trainer.
Strbich said he filed the complaint because he wants to ensure that volunteers are trained fully ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, which will see thousands of local voters come to their polling locations to decide on federal, state and local leadership and issues.
“It’s simple,” he said. “I want all of the election workers to have the appropriate level of training and familiarization on how to properly recognize a noncitizen ID. And if they do encounter that, to know what actions they must take to ensure an ineligible vote is not cast and counted.”
Strbich has previously voiced concern about election security on the Ohio Statehouse floor. This spring he gave testimony in favor of Ohio H.B. 472.
The bill — sponsored by State Reps. Bernie Willis, R-Springfield, and Bob Peterson, R-Sabina — proposes sweeping changes to Ohio’s elections, notably allowing counties to choose to switch to hand-counting paper ballots instead of using voting machines or automatic tabulating equipment.
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