Voting rights are under fire in Ohio. Casting a ballot is how you fight back.

Recent actions by state and federal officials have cast an unwarranted shadow over decades of nonpartisan voter registration work, in an attempt to create a climate that risks discouraging eligible Ohioans from exercising one of their most fundamental rights.

Just weeks ago, more than 100 FBI agents raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), a nonprofit that has spent nearly two decades helping register eligible Ohioans. Agents searched employees’ homes and questioned staff for hours, with insufficient public explanation for the raid.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose recently warned voters to be suspicious of voter registration groups like OOC — and mine, the Voter Participation Center (VPC) and Center for Voter Information (CVI). He falsely claimed these organizations don’t actually help unregistered voters and urged Ohioans to ignore our mailers.

Not all outside mail is the same. Legitimate voter registration groups, including VPC and CVI, use the same official forms as state election officials. We also share our materials with election officials in advance.

We’ve worked closely over the years with Ohio election administrators who are entrusted to run free and fair elections. Bad actors don’t do that.

There’s a broader context for Ohioans: the same secretary of state who’s raising alarms about voter registration groups is the one who handed the personal information of eight million Ohio voters over to the Trump administration’s Justice Department.

The state official warning Ohioans not to trust groups that help them register is also cooperating with a federal government building lists of voters and intimidating the organizations that reach them.

With the midterms just months away, Ohioans are being hit with misinformation from multiple directions. No matter the source, the message lands the same way — don’t trust the mail, don’t answer the door, don’t bother casting a ballot.

This confusion is designed to do one thing: keep eligible voters from turning out.

That’s exactly why nonpartisan civic organizations matter. Groups like VPC and CVI help fill the gap left by under-resourced election offices, giving eligible voters official registration applications and accurate information about upcoming elections.

Since 2003, VPC and CVI have helped more than 7 million Americans register to vote nationwide. This year alone, we sent more than 350,000 registration applications directly to unregistered Ohioans.

Helping eligible voters register isn’t a partisan act. It’s a partnership with the state and local officials responsible for elections, built on a simple principle: voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around.

This campaign of confusion succeeds only if Ohioans get discouraged, tune out, or decide it isn’t worth the hassle to vote. Democracy is weakened every time an eligible citizen stays home because they no longer know who to trust.

The answer isn’t to sit out. It’s to show up anyway.

If you’re eligible to vote, confirm you’re registered. If you’ve moved, update your registration. When Election Day arrives, cast your ballot — and help your neighbors to do the same.

The most powerful response to confusion and intimidation is participation.

Democracy doesn’t depend on the people trying to discourage engagement. It depends on the people who show up anyway.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE