Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project Action, released the following statement:
“I applaud Ohio for promptly appealing this disappointing decision. Judge Watson does not deny that states can ban foreign nationals from contributing to ballot issue campaigns, and that is exactly what Ohio’s new law does.
“It should not be lost on anyone that this lawsuit was filed by Hansjorg Wyss’s personal attorney, Marc Elias. Wyss has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into the DC-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has spent over $20 million on ballot issues in Ohio alone. That’s why lawmakers banned foreign funding earlier this year. But like clockwork, Elias sued to keep Ohio exposed to unlimited foreign interference from foreign billionaires like Wyss and DC dark money groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund. It is our hope that this decision is promptly reversed on appeal.”