Ohio experts, elected officials react to Trump’s claims of voter fraud

“There are always going to be some kinds of irregularities,” he said. “I don’t see any evidence of anything on the scale that President Trump is suggesting.”

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, released a statement Wednesday that encouraged respect for the election process.

“Under our Constitution, state legislatures set the rules and states administer our elections,” Portman said in a statement. "We should respect that process and ensure that all ballots cast in accordance with state laws are counted. It’s that simple.”

Election process experts said the Trump campaign’s claims around the election results at this stage are unprecedented and dangerous.

“Our entire system rests on this peaceful transition of power,” said Nancy Martorano Miller, a political science professor at the University of Dayton. “And if people start questioning the legitimacy of the outcome of the votes, then it makes it harder for those who are elected to govern … and people start to question the outcomes of future elections just simply because they don’t like the outcome.”

Smith said it’s important for people to know there are official observers from both parties watching the votes be counted across the country.

“It’s also true that in Georgia and Arizona there are Republicans in control of this (election) process so it’s difficult to argue that it’s a widespread kind of fraud when the president’s own party members are responsible for carrying out the process in those states especially,” he said.

University of Dayton political science professor Christopher Devine said it is illogical to argue Democrats have a massive, multi-state conspiracy to steal this election since their down-ballot candidates did not fare well and they failed to gain a Senate majority and even lost some seats in the House.

“The logical conclusion is there’s not widespread fraud,” he said.

Area Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan and Warren Davidson have echoed some of Trump’s statements on their social media platforms.

During an appearance on Fox News, Jordan cast doubt on the counting process in Pennsylvania and Nevada.

Jordan tweeted a video of the appearance on Thursday and said: “First, it was the Russia hoax. Then, it was Ukraine. Now? It’s election integrity … (U.S. Rep. Scott Perry’s) right, the Democrats are attempting #impeachment number 3."

Davidson tweeted: “You can’t win an election … after the election! Unfortunately, the problems we all warned about with inadequate attention given to election security and the means to provide an accurate, timely count of all legal cast votes are now reality. #SecureTheVote”

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said during a press conference with reporters on Thursday that counting every vote is not fraud.

“There is no basis for stopping the counts,” Brown said. “President Trump seems to want to stop the count where he’s ahead and challenge the count when he’s behind.”

Brown said that unlike in Ohio, some states like Pennsylvania are prohibited by their own laws from processing mail-in votes until Election Day. Ballot counting routinely extends past Election Day. Due to record numbers of absentee ballots this election, some states have been too close to call.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, U.S. Reps. Mike Turner and Steve Chabot did not respond Friday to requests for comment.