4 Republicans: It’s unfair that some counties mail out ballot to everyone

COLUMBUS — “A new federal lawsuit is challenging the process for how absentee balloting is handled in Ohio, saying it violates the rights of voters who don’t live in certain counties, including Franklin.

That’s because although Franklin and several other counties are sending an application for an absentee ballot to all active registered voters, as well as paying the postage for the ballot’s return in some cases, the remaining counties are not.

‘This unequal system of voting by absent voter’s ballot, which is dependent upon the county in which the elector resides, deprives Ohio electors of the right to participate in elections on an equal basis,’ the lawsuit says.” Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch.

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A reasonable way to clean up the state’s voter registration database

COLUMBUS — “In July, Jennifer Brunner notified county election officials of mismatches found by cross-checking the statewide voter registration database against records at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The secretary of state then directed local officials to notify voters of the discrepancies and give them a chance to repair errors before Election Day.

The overriding goal of such exercises (required by federal law) must be to ease access to the ballot. That has been Brunner’s main concern. Another goal is to prevent last-minute questions about voter registration from triggering the use of provisional ballots, counted after voter information is rechecked. Ohio relies far too much on such ballots, risking a crush of lawsuits following a close election…. No question Ohio’s voter registration system should be as accurate as possible, bolstering confidence in election results while cutting down on lawsuits. Doing so shouldn’t turn into a game of ”gotcha,” creating unnecessary hoops through which voters must jump, raising the false specter of rampant vote fraud. Barriers enough (among them, the state’s cumbersome voter ID law) already exist. Jennifer Brunner has struck an appropriate balance, directing election boards to notify voters of mismatches and allow those voters an opportunity to fix errors before Ohioans go to the polls in November.” Akron Beacon Journal.

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COLUMBUS — “Brunner’s office did a one-time check of existing voter records for mismatches in July. In the future, the state will check all newly registered voters against records at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the U.S. Social Security Administration, depending on whether voters register using the last four digits of their Social Security number or their driver’s license number.

But the one-time check involved only a third of Ohio’s 8 million existing voter records because the Social Security Administration would not allow matching of existing registrations, leaving out voters who used their Social Security numbers. That means there could be even more mismatches and a larger number of possibly deceased voters on the rolls than Brunner’s office has reported.

The process to cancel a registration starts after a voter doesn’t cast a ballot for four years or two federal elections. Counties also remove deceased voters after getting a monthly report of deaths from the state Department of Health.” Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch.

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COLUMBUS — “Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner entered the debate yesterday over providing ballots in Spanish in Cuyahoga County, releasing a video documenting the language barrier for citizens of Puerto Rican descent in the county.

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly has told the county to provide ballots for the Nov. 2 election in Spanish and English to comply with the amended Voting Rights Act of 1965. Negotiations with the county to comply with the act have been ongoing, Brunner said…. Cleveland is the 10th-largest jurisdiction on the U.S. mainland with citizens of Puerto Rican descent at 34,000 – including at least 6,000 with an admitted limited proficiency in English, Brunner said.” Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch.

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Brunner to break Franklin County tie

COLUMBUS — “Franklin County elections officials split along party lines yesterday on the question of adding 10 hours of pre-election voting time in September and October.

The two Democrats on the county elections board want to keep the agency’s Downtown office open late on the first day of absentee voting in late September, and they want to add two Sundays in October to the early-voting schedule for this year’s federal, state and county races…. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat who ordered Franklin County to accommodate weekend voters in 2008, will break the tie.” Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch.

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COLUMBUS — “Words matter – and when it comes to the wording of statewide ballot measures, the five members of the Ohio Ballot Board can be the nit-pickiest of editors….

Questions at the local level are written often by the people who seek their passage. Ballot language is sent to county boards of elections that sometimes are unsure of their authority to make changes. And measures are given final approval by state elections lawyers who juggle matters for multiple counties.

One of the rare challenges is playing out now in Columbus, where City Council members are seeking authority to discuss some matters in private through a charter amendment. Some Franklin County officials have called the proposed language misleading.” Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch.

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COLUMBUS — “More than 11,000 people in Cuyahoga County have registered to vote this year through public-assistance programs as part of a renewed effort to involve poor people in elections throughout Ohio.

Statewide, more than 100,000 applicants for public assistance have signed up to vote through the first six months of this year — a significant surge compared with past years. In Cuyahoga, the number of low-income individuals who filled out registration forms already is higher than the last two years combined.

The increase stems from a legal settlement reached in November. Ohio had been inconsistent in following a federal law that requires voter registration forms to be provided to applicants for welfare programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. The settlement led to a new set of rules that took effect in January to make sure the state follows the law.” Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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COLUMBUS — “More than half of Ohio’s county elections boards, including those in Fairfield and Licking counties, will be eligible for cash payments, free voting machines and free software licensing under a settlement between the state and a voting-machine manufacturer.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner sued Premier Elections Solutions (formerly Diebold) in August 2008, alleging that the company’s touch-screen voting machines didn’t work properly. She said an investigation showed that votes in at least 11 counties were “dropped” in prior elections when memory cards were uploaded to computer servers.

The lawsuit was a counterclaim filed after Premier sued the state and Cuyahoga County in May 2008 seeking a ruling that it had satisfied the obligations of its state contract to provide touch-screen voting machines in the county.” Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch.

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CLEVELAND — “Cuyahoga County is considering whether to print bilingual ballots for the November election, after the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to sue the Board of Elections, according to the board…. At issue, Frost [Republican elections board member] said, is a little-used section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protects the rights of citizens of Puerto Rican descent who are educated in predominantly Spanish-language schools in Puerto Rico. There can be no language barriers for those citizens…. The board has worked over the last few years to reach out to Spanish-speaking voters, he said. It has hired Spanish-speaking poll workers and translators for about 35 precincts.” Barbara Carmen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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CLEVELAND — “Elections officials in major Ohio counties say a surge in people voting by mail has been accompanied by a rise in ballot errors that cost time and money.

More than 6,000 voters in the county that includes Cleveland made mistakes with mail-in ballots for the May primary. Some left off necessary signatures or information, while nearly 100 even forgot to include their ballot in the envelope.

Cuyahoga  County elections workers try to fix errors so votes can be counted, and the process can be costly. Officials are already urging that mail-in ballot instructions be followed carefully for the November election.” The Columbus Dispatch.

DAYTON — “Electronic voting machines will be repaired and the Montgomery County Board of Elections will save money on equipment and fees under a settlement with the maker of the problem-plagued touch-screen machines in use locally since 2005.

On Tuesday, July 20, the board agreed to settle its portion of a lawsuit involving Premier Election Solutions, now owned by Omaha-based Elections Systems and Software…. The complex lawsuit was initiated against Cuyahoga County and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in 2008 by Premier, then part of North-Canton based Diebold Inc. That lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court involved Cuyahoga County’s decision to shelve the company’s machines at Brunner’s request after major election night problems. Brunner’s breach-of-contract counter-claim named 11 counties, including Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Butler. For legal reasons to insure they could benefit from a settlement the counties were named as defendants along with Premier, said Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder.” Lynn Hulsey, Dayton Daily News.

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COLUMBUS — “Attorney General Richard Cordray said yesterday that the state should redouble its efforts to recoup more than $33.2 million owed by former political candidates and committees for violating election laws.

Cordray called on the Ohio Elections Commission to impose fines more quickly on candidates found to have lied in campaign advertisements, misused their political funds or committed other violations of election laws.

The panel also needs to turn over delinquent candidates and committees to the attorney general’s office more quickly for the collection of fines and penalties, Cordray said.” James Nash, The Columbus Dispatch.

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Plan to reduce polling places responds to early voting trend

COLUMBUS — “As more and more Ohioans opt to vote by absentee ballot, the neighborhood polling place could go the way of the milkman.

Thus, a consolidation of many of Franklin County’s 865 elections precincts, as proposed in a plan before the county Board of Elections, is inevitable…. The board’s tie vote puts the matter in the hands of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who by law will cast a tie-breaker.” The Columbus Dispatch.

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COLUMBUS — “The Franklin County Board of Elections agreed yesterday to combine precincts that already are in the same building. But the four-person board deadlocked along party lines about whether to close other voting spots to consolidate more polling places.

That means Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will decide the question. The consolidations are designed to save money at a time when fewer people are waiting to go to the polls on Election Day….

Early voting has cut lines at polls considerably. In the May 2006 primary, when Ohio first allowed any voter to cast an absentee ballot, 8.6 percent of Franklin County residents took up the offer. By the primary this past May, absentee voting accounted for 45.2 percent of all votes cast in the county.

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MARION — “A change in Ohio’s election laws means candidate petitions and all local tax levies and ballot issues, including local liquor option petitions, now must be filed with the Marion County Board of Elections by 4 p.m. Aug. 4. The change is a result of the passage of House Bill 48, which takes effect on July 2 and incorporates the provision of the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act into law. The MOVE bill is designed to make it easier for military personnel serving overseas to vote. The deadline to file issues was moved to 90 days before the election, instead of 75 days, so that military and overseas voters have a better chance of getting their ballots to elections officials on time,” Marion Star.

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COLUMBUS — After votes were tallied in 2008, much effort was aimed at finding ways to improve Ohio elections. Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, pulled together panel discussions. The House and Senate passed bills addressing significant problems. In the final weeks before the legislature recessed for the summer, discussions continued, with room for compromise in time for balloting this fall. Sadly, adjournment came last week with no action. Last-minute negotiations brought together officials from legislative caucuses, Brunner’s office, the League of Women Voters and the Ohio Association of Election Officials. These key players came close to an agreement that would ease access to the ballot for many voters and reduce the likelihood of confidence-sapping lawsuits in close elections,” Akron Beacon Journal.

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CLEVELAND — Younger people were more likely to vote in 2008 than in 2004. The same for minorities. A Census Bureau (pdf) study released May 12 provides a demographic breakdown of voters in the last presidential election. While the participation rate of minorities and younger people increased, a smaller percentage of white people and older people took part in the election,” Rich Exner, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

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