Nine days after one of the biggest reversal of political fortunes to come along in quiet a while, the disquieting if not troublesome news of flaws affecting our system of voting this election cycle is percolating to the surface as more people come forward with their stories.
New elected leaders, especially new secretary of state's like Jennifer Brunner in Ohio, will be called upon to return trust and integrity to voting in their state's system of voting. After all, shouldn't it be a civic act so sacrosanct that we should safeguard it at all costs, while simultaneously lowering hurdles to entry without accommodating fraud and making the mechanics of the act as sublime as drinking a glass of water. This analogy was first used by veteran civil rights leader John Lewis (D-Georgia) and repeated by Ms. Brunner in many of her stump speeches as an example of how easy voting should be.
COOKING THE VOTE
In their editorial "Counting the Vote, Badly," The New York Times described Ohio's situation perfectly when they wrote this:
The problems with elections go well beyond electronic voting. Partisan secretaries of state continue to skew the rules to favor their parties and political allies. States are adopting harsh standards for voter registration drives to make it harder for people to register, as well as draconian voter identification laws to make casting a ballot harder for poor people, racial minorities, the elderly and students. Some states have adopted an indefensible rule that provisional ballots cast at the wrong table of the correct polling place must be thrown out.
In Ohio, a front-line battleground state that went "blue" big-time this year, the parade of election problems continue to unwind with each passing day. From Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland, thousands of votes still need to be counted so waiting candidates can concede or claim victory or so recounts can be undertaken, a process that may reveal even more flaws that need to be corrected.
Ohio's Republican General Assembly passed their version of a voter intimidation bill [HB 3 - 126TH GA] they camouflaged as a preemptive strike on voter fraud, a favorite topic that, while statistically a non-starter due to its rarity, is nonetheless a fear that plays to the hearts and minds of party loyalists who know that if more Ohioans are permitted to vote they will be on the loosing end of more elections.
The sweet irony of their legislative handiwork this year was how campaign contributions, standards the R's raised to $10,000 because they thought it would help them more than the D's, came back to bite them in their fundraising ass. Revenge is a dish people of task prefer to eat cold. And the Dems gorged themselves at the cold buffet this year.
And, of course, since it is Ohio and this weekend is the "Big Game" between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines, BOE officials in Franklin County will forego counting Saturday so everyone can cheer and jeer their favorite football team. Voting here in the "Heart of it All" generally takes a backseat to democracy.
JENNIFER BRUNNER: OHIO'S ELECTORAL PALADIN
But lucky for Ohio, it elected Jennifer Brunner as Secretary of State. As the first board of election member to advance to chief elections officer, and as the first woman to hold such an esteemed post, she's the right person at the right time for the right job.
Featured today on Arianna Huffington's "The Blog," Ms. Brunner tells her "Fearless Voices" story about overcoming obstacles, not the least of which were the sleazy attack ads run by her Republican opponent Greg Hartmann, the clerk of courts for Hamilton County who many thought was another Texas Flash in the mold of our president who thought he could come to Ohio and use the SOS office as a stepping stone to governor. But Ohioans resoundingly rejected his campaign. Here's a snippet from Ms. Brunner's post that should show Ohioans that they made the right choice this season:
...Now that Ohioans have trusted me enough to let me tackle Ohio elections, I've pledged to be fair and impartial, to listen to the people and act in their interest and on their behalf. Ohio's heritage as a state is so strong, and I want Ohioans to once again be proud of who we are and of the quality of life in our state. I will do my part by protecting and restoring trust to our democratic process so that Ohioans and the nation know that Ohio elections are free, fair, open and honest.
While the Times editorial didn't mention Ohio's current, out-going secretary of state Ken Blackwell, who got a "thumpin" [as his good buddy George W. Bush called how the Dems thrashed the Rs] from Ted Strickland, Ohio's new, upbeat unity governor, it said so in so many words when it talked about office-holders who have blatantly been "partisan" and state legislatures, like Ohio's Republican-controlled General Assembly, that adopted voting bills designed throw up obstacles to voters and provide for harsh penalties for many accused of violating them.
ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR BLACKWELL?
Even though Ohio's governor-elect Strickland was welcomed by out-going Republican governor Bob Taft the day after Election Day and Marc Dann, Ohio's new attorney general was hosted by out-going Republican Jim Petro, Mr. Blackwell, has declined to return Ms. Brunner's calls and has been a no-show at a meeting held earlier this week between Ms. Brunner and members of her transition team. Whether for reasons of sour grapes, political pouting or reasons so compelling that he couldn't take a little timie to welcome Ms. Brunner to the office she will officially take over on January 8 when she takes the oath of office, Mr. Blackwell has shown by this small but significant snub that Ohioans made the right choice in Ms. Brunner. She has been relegated to meeting with Blackwell's number two guy, Monty Lobb, and his chief of staff.
As the media sniffs out more on this story, word from insiders forecasts that Blackwell will somehow work Ms. Brunner into his busy schedule soon. But we'll believe it when we see it.
BRUNNER HEARS VOTING STORIES IN CLEVELAND
Voter horror stories from past elections resurfaced during an NAACP public hearing Tuesday night held to identify election problems and solutions before the next president is elected, according to a (Cleveland) Plain Dealer article.
Ohio was the NAACP's first stop on its tour of about a dozen states in an effort to gather information about voter suppression and other obstacles voters face.
Local election officials and others testified at the Antioch Baptist Church on Cedar Avenue in front of an audience of about 50 people, which included Ohio Secretary of State-elect Jennifer Brunner and members of the NAACP's national office.
But even in light of the tens of thousands of ballots that have yet to be counted across the state, especially with respect to the battle between Mary Jo Kilroy, a Columbus Democrat, and her incumbent Republican opponent, Debra Pryce, a multi-term Columbus Republican, one newspaper thinks everything is going smoothly and urges Ms. Brunner to pursue "tweaks" rather than "overhauls" to the system. The Tribune-Chronicle editorialized this today:
This year's November General Election ran smoothly in Ohio. Though some tweaking still is in order, there is no need for overhauling the state's new voting procedures.
Brunner should ignore Ohio Roundtable's David Zanotti's outcry to return to paper ballots...And Brunner should suppress her own desire to abandon voter ID requirements.
Yet if we are to take heart in comments about overhauling how America votes made by California Senator Diane Feinstein, Brunner's plan to advocate for wider changes is on point with similar concerns expressed by Feinstein and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who plans to revise and reintroduce her "Count Every Vote Act," which takes an admirably broad approach to overhauling the voting system.
Read Brunner's "Fearless" story at The Huffington Post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Read the full NYT editorial here: http://www.nytimes.com/...
Read the full Plain Dealer story on voting stores here: http://www.cleveland.com/...
Read the full Tribune-Chronicle editorial here: http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/...