Conspiracy theory podcaster barred from running for Ohio Secretary of State

The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

A conspiracy theory podcaster and election-denier has been barred from running for Ohio Secretary of State as an independent.

Terpsehore “Tore” Maras does not have enough valid signatures to get her name on the 2022 ballot, according to Kimberly Burns, the assistant Secretary of State who upheld an-ex Ohio Supreme Court justice’s opinion.

Burns sent a letter Tuesday from Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office that the “petition contains 4,993 valid signatures,” while the minimum is 5,000.

LaRose’s team made it clear that he was not involved in the denial of Maras from the ballot, saying that it is a formal and legal process to transfer over making that decision to Burns.

On Friday, Justice Terrence O’Donnell, who was chosen by the LaRose team to handle the case, decided to reject 18 of her 5,010 signatures. The Secretary of State’s office gave her one back.

This rejection came after Justin Bis, executive director of the Ohio Republican Party, filed a complaint against Maras. Bis asserted she had 65 invalid signatures.

The podcaster had previously tried to run against LaRose in the primary as a Republican. She did not collect enough signatures for the ballot at that time, either.

This decision is final, however, Maras can try to sue.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.