RAVENNA, Ohio — A local election board in Ohio has said the county sheriff’s department will not be used for election security after the sheriff posted a message on social media saying people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses registered so immigrants can move in if the Democratic vice president wins the November election.

In a statement posted on the Portage County Democrats’ Facebook page, Randi Clites, chair of the county’s Board of Elections, said members voted 3-1 on Friday to relieve the sheriff’s department of security during in-person mail ballots.

Clites cited public comments pointing to “perceived intimidation by our sheriff toward certain voters” and the need to “ensure that every voter in Portage County feels safe casting their vote for whichever candidate they choose.”

A Ravenna Record-Courier article on the Akron Beacon Journal website reported that about 150 people had gathered in a hall at the Kent United Church of Christ a day earlier for a meeting sponsored by the Portage County NAACP. Many expressed fear over the Sept. 13 comments.

“I think that entering a polling place where a sheriff’s deputy is visible could deter voters from coming in,” Clites said. The board is already considering hiring private security at the administration building or having Ravenna police provide security, Clites said.

Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski posted a screenshot of a Fox News segment criticizing President Joe Biden and Harris on immigration. He compared people in the U.S. illegally to “human locusts” and suggested recording the addresses of people with Harris yard signs so that when migrants need a place to live, “we already have the addresses of their new families … who supported their arrival!”

Local Democrats filed complaints with the Ohio Secretary of State and other agencies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio accused Zuchowski of making an unconstitutional “impermissible threat” against residents who want to post political yard signs. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called the comments “unfortunate” and “unhelpful.” The Secretary of State’s office said the comments did not violate election laws and that it planned no action.

Zuchowski, a Republican supporter of former President Donald Trump, said in a follow-up post last week that his comments “may have been a little bit misinterpreted?” However, he said that while voters can elect who they want as president, they “have to take responsibility for their actions.”

A request for comment was sent Sunday to Zuchowski, who spent 26 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and was a part-time deputy sheriff before taking the top job in 2020. He is seeking re-election as chief of law enforcement for the northeastern Ohio county about an hour outside Cleveland.