My name is
Jennifer Brunner and I am running to be Ohio’s next Secretary of State. I am running to ensure that Ohioans have truly free, fair, open and honest elections. Very simply, I want to change the way Ken Blackwell runs elections in Ohio. He is term-limited and running for Governor. My opponent is a first-time statewide candidate from Cincinnati (where Ken Blackwell hails from) and said in a March 30, 2006 fund raising letter that “it’s critical to the future of our party that we keep this office in Republican hands.”
As a former trial court judge in Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus) I strived every day to administer justice with fairness and equality. My experience as an election lawyer gives me a unique perspective in understanding the “nuts and bolts” approach needed by the next Ohio Secretary of State.
Unlike the corrosive leadership of the Republican Party, I have spent my professional career trying to make it easier for people to participate in their government. Elections should be accessible and reliable. I believe in allowing registered voters to participate in elections without being hindered by officials with partisan agendas. The actions of Ken Blackwell during the 2004 election were shameful, divisive and they are an affront to what we now know is a very fragile democracy. Ohioans deserve a change in the Secretary of State’s office. We all deserve better.
I realize that there continues to be concern in the netroots community about the procedures used in conducting elections in Ohio and elsewhere. I have them, too. As a candidate, please be assured that I am doing all I can to advocate for fair election procedures in Ohio in 2006. I have testified against legislation to require photo identification to be able to vote. I continue to track directives and rules from the Secretary of State, working with legal counsel—while I’m trying to campaign for the office.
As Ohio’s next Secretary of State, I will be doing a lot more than just advocating. I will be working with Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections to get it done. Here are some of the specifics I want to put in place:
- Find new ways to recruit and train poll workers and conduct effective poll worker training prior to the election, so new procedures are clearly understood
- Involve more high school and college age students as poll workers—in the recent May 2 election in Ohio, the experience was overwhelmingly positive when these young peopleassisted at the polls
- Employ and train an investigative team to assist boards with voter intimidation and field representatives to work with boards to ensure voting procedure integrity
- Standardize procedures, including training of poll workers and not leave policy to be determined by each individual board (the Secretary of State, by law, may issue directives that boards must follow)
- Conduct a thorough review of the operation of all types of election machines that have been certified in Ohio, even if it means litigating to get a thorough and objective review of program source codes
- Reinstitute random audits of election machine results requiring random selection of precincts for electronic result comparison with paper trail results
- Work toward a hybrid system of electronic voting that produces a paper ballot that can be scanned (electronic production of optical scan ballot ensures better determination of voter intent), providing greater assurance to the voter of the recording of his or her choice in voting
- Create a system of communication on Election Day that involves liaisons placed in the community and situated specifically to communicate with a board of elections in a county on correct precincts for voters and prompt correction of machine problems, using laptops, cell phones and 2-way communication so that boards can provide prompt information to help prevent voter discouragement and disenfranchisement
- Continue to fight against onerous registration and voter identification requirements that hinder a person from even getting to vote.
- Develop a working formula for fair and accurate distribution of voting machines among election precincts to minimize voting lines
- Finding more ways to encourage mail-in voting to minimize lines at polling places
I’m sure there are many more suggestions the netroots and voter protection communities have that can be incorporated when we finally get an inside look at that office—and I’m always open to listening to new ideas.
I’m anxious to roll up my sleeves and get busy—the 2008 Presidential election is just around the corner.
How you can help
Although many campaigns need money (including mine), we need your help in other ways as well:
1) Email friends and family the link to this post or my campaign website and tell them about my candidacy
2) Call or email anyone you know who lives in Ohio and tell them to remember to vote for Jennifer Brunner for Secretary of State
3) If you do live in Ohio, volunteer to help with the campaign,
4) If you don’t live in Ohio, volunteer to help with the campaign. We have an ambitious field plan, including a team of “virtual phonebankers”. Volunteers from both in and out of Ohio calling Ohio voters to tell them about Jennifer Brunner. You will be able to make those calls without ever having to leave your home. When the time comes, we would like to have a list of willing volunteers to count on to make those calls.
5) Contribute – I know, I mentioned it before, but we do need to continue raising money to have a successful campaign. If you live in Ohio, you can get a tax credit just for contributing to my campaign! Up to $50 for single filers or $100 for joint filers. So you can make a $100 contribution today and just consider it a loan, because you’ll get the money back in your taxes! Isn’t a loan of $100 for a quality Secretary of State a reasonable price to pay? The limit per contributor is $10,000 (this was the most recent Republican “reform”), and corporations (except LLC’s) may not contribute.
I appreciate the critical role that the internet/blogosphere/netroots currently plays in politics and I believe that such mediums are great examples of free speech in America. I look forward to getting to know many of you and to posting here more frequently in the coming weeks. My sincere thanks for your help and support.