Foreigners should not be able to influence Ohio elections. Bill would kick them out.

Ken Blackwell is a former Ohio secretary of state. Jason Snead is executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, a Washington-based conservative organization.

Ohioans deserve elections that are free of foreign influence.

But right now, foreign nationals like billionaire activist Hansjörg Wyss are exploiting a tangled web of liberal special interest groups to funnel vast sums into elections all over America. Armed with almost unlimited resources, these foreign-funded groups are influencing ballot issue campaigns across the country. And Ohio is at the heart of it all.

Just last year, one of these foreign-backed groups, Sixteen Thirty Fund, spent over $14 million on ballot issue campaigns in Ohio.

That was no one-off.

Sixteen Thirty Fund is already one of the largest backers of an issue campaign dubbed “Citizens Not Politicians”—ironic, given Sixteen Thirty Fund’s foreign funding—and is poised to spend millions on ballot initiatives this year.

As a former Ohio Secretary of State and the leader of an organization devoted to advancing fair and honest elections, we believe this foreign influence should be stopped. It is already illegal for foreign nationals like Mr. Wyss to donate to political candidates. The same should be true for ballot issues.

Fortunately, the first steps to close this loophole have already been taken. The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 215 sponsored by Sens. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green.

The bill will ban both direct and indirect foreign influence over state ballot issues. We call on the Ohio House to quickly follow suit, and put this crucial protection in place before the 2024 election.

The scope of foreign influence in politics today is astounding. Hansjörg Wyss is one of the largest political donors in America, despite choosing not to become a citizen. According to a biography of Wyss written by his sister, Wyss’s goal is to “[re]interpret the American Constitution in the light of progressive politics.”

By all accounts, he is making good on his promise to influence American politics. Politico recently reported that Wyss “showered liberal groups” with $63 million in 2022 alone. All in, Wyss has  funneled nearly half a billion dollars into partisan organizations and causes.

Half of that enormous sum, $243 million in all, was directed to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the same group that has already pumped over $14 million into Ohio's ballot issue campaigns. Sixteen Thirty is a behemoth of liberal political activism. It has spent nearly $80 million to influence ballot issues in 18 states, and in 2022 alone NBC News reports that Sixteen Thirty spent $200 million “helping Democrats” win elections and “backing state ballot measures.”

This foreign-funded juggernaut has put Ohio in its crosshairs.

Sixteen Thirty Fund is pushing a supposedly bipartisan overhaul of the redistricting process. And in the Ohio Supreme Court, Wyss's personal attorney, Marc Elias, is suing to advance another ballot issue to rewrite the state’s election laws. The proposed text of that measure would even permit non-citizen voting, something Ohioans voted decisively against in 2022.

Foreign nationals should not be dictating Ohio’s election laws, deciding who gets to vote, or rewriting this state’s Constitution. That is true regardless of which side may benefit from foreign funding. That’s why eight states, including even blue states like California and Washington, have taken steps to block foreign funding of ballot measures. Initiatives should not be a Trojan horse for foreign political influence.

Ohioans overwhelmingly agree. A recent poll conducted by Honest Elections Project Action found that 85% of registered voters think foreign nationals should not be allowed to influence elections, while 68% would support a law to block indirect foreign influence of elections.

Senate Bill 215 would make Ohio the next state to close this loophole, without infringing on the rights and privacy of American citizens who choose to donate to candidates and causes they support. It is a crucial step, but it is not the end of the road. Once this loophole is closed, foreign-funded special interests will likely look for others.

Lawmakers should remain vigilant.

Not one person testified against the bill, but every Democrat in the Ohio Senate voted to continue allowing foreign money to influence Ohio’s elections. Buckeye State voters deserves better than politicians that would turn a ban on foreign election influence into a partisan issue.

For lawmakers, the question is simple: should foreign money be allowed to influence Ohio’s elections? To us, the answer is clear.

The Ohio Senate has begun this crucial work. For the sake of every Ohioan, it’s time to finish the job.

Ken Blackwell is a former Ohio secretary of state. Jason Snead is executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, a Washington D.C. -based conservative organization.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Foreigners and their money must be kicked out of Ohio elections