Ohio Election Integrity Unit finds no violation in Ramaswamy reporting

The Ohio Election Integrity Unit issued a finding of no violation on September 16, regarding campaign credit card reporting by Vivek Ramaswamy, closing out an inquiry launched after reports revealed nearly half a million dollars in expenditures obscured behind single monthly reimbursements.

State law mandates that political campaigns report specific details for every expenditure, including what was spent, who they paid, what they purchased and when it happened. According to reporting by the Ohio Capital Journal, Ramaswamy’s campaign reported thousands of dollars in monthly expenses as single lump-sum American Express card reimbursements starting with its very first filing in 2025.

In April 2025, the campaign reported approximately $6,700 on its credit card. By the following year, monthly credit card expenditures climbed past $96,000, according to reporting by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Ramaswamy Team Revises Campaign Finance Reports

Following public reporting on the unusual credit card usage, Ramaswamy’s team revised its campaign finance reports to break down the previously obscured expenditures into individual line items. The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office also fulfilled public records requests from the Ohio Capital Journal for supporting documentation related to the filings.

Despite the revisions, Ohio state Sen. Kent Smith, who filed the original complaint, pointed out ongoing discrepancies in how the transactions are logged. The revised reports, for instance, list the payees and amounts, but instead of reporting those transactions on the date they occurred, each one is listed on the date the campaign paid its credit card statement, Smith noted, as reported by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Ohio Election Integrity Unit Handles Inquiry

The inquiry was handled by the Ohio Election Integrity Unit, which operates within the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. This structure was established after Republican state lawmakers eliminated the independent Ohio Elections Commission.

It makes sense for the Secretary of State’s office to alert them as soon as possible, and to try to get the information as quickly as possible, so that voters actually have information when they can use it, Turcer said, as detailed by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Sen. Smith Considers Options After Missing Correspondence

Sen. Smith expressed frustration over the secretary’s office failing to respond to requests for correspondence exchanged with Ramaswamy’s campaign during the review process. There’s one of two conclusions, Smith stated, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. LaRose is letting the billionaire candidate skate on the rules, or LaRose and his office, to the best of their ability, are trying to make Ramaswamy come into compliance, and he’s completely ignoring it.

While Smith has not formally filed an appeal, he confirmed he is still considering every additional option available regarding the secretary’s no-violation determination.

Has my campaign lost receipts over 25 years? Oh God, yes. Has everybody lost receipts? Of course. Should any candidate be prosecuted for lost receipts? No. But again, when the problem gets egregiously worse, that says to me the problem was never corrected.

Ohio state Sen. Kent Smith