Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., has asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to supervise the investigation and, if warranted, the prosecution of those connected with the 2010 general election absentee ballot case.

Collier made his request in a letter dated July 8 to OAG attorney Paul Scarsella.

“The allegations made involve individuals of the Democratic party, including elected officials,” Collier said in his letter. “In view of the fact I am a Republican and to avoid the appearance of any political motivation, I feel it would be much more appropriate for your office to handle the matter.”

Collier said his office would cooperate in any way possible.

Lisa Hackley, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said it is not at all uncommon for counties to ask that office to handle these kinds of issues.

“These are cases in which there is conflict or could be a perceived conflict,” Hackley said. She said her office’s special prosecution division would handle the case going forward.

Collier was not immediately available for comment as the grand jury met Thursday and Friday.

An investigation into absentee ballots began late last year.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted asked the attorney general and the Lawrence County Prosecutor to determine if a group of Democrats attempted voter fraud in the general election.

At issue are 119 applications for absentee ballots that were sent to two post office boxes.

In October a board of elections employee noticed that the handwriting in the “Send Ballot To” portion of the applications differed from that in the section with the voter’s name. The board then contacted 10 voters to see where they wanted their ballot sent.

“All 10 voters replied that they wanted their ballots mailed to them at their home address, suggesting that the ‘Send Ballot To’ portion of the absentee ballot application was completed after the voters filled in their application form,” Husted stated in a letter.