Ken Blackwell, infamous overseer of elections in Ohio and candidate for Governor, is at it again. The Cleveland Plain Dealer
reported today that Blackwell may not be complying with HAVA.
Feds want answers
Federal officials are asking Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to explain why Ohio appears to be out of compliance with a voter-registration requirement in the sweeping Help America Vote Act, which went into effect in January.
The U.S. Justice Department requested in a March 31 letter that Blackwell clarify by this Friday how Ohio is verifying the identity of people registering to vote.
The law requires the secretary of state's office to send new voter registration applications - which include either a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number - to Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The BMV is required to check the information against its data bases, which includes Social Security numbers.
But the Justice Department said Ohio is not checking the information against a Social Security database specifically created for verifying voter information.
This just a week after the Plain Dealer revealed that Blackwell owned stock in Diebold, the Ohio-based maker of suspicious voting machines whose CEO famously promised to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush in 2004. (But the Plain Dealer was nice enough to let Blackwell off the hook in the headline, calling the stock purchase an embarrassing accident.) He has defended himself, in part, by claiming he sold these shares at a loss, as if that somehow removes the taint.
Blackwell also held stock in Barr Pharmaceuticals, maker of the Plan B contraceptive, and International Game Technology, the world's biggest slot machine maker, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Do I need to add that he opposes abortion and gambling?
It's time to fix Ohio. Support Ted Strickland for Governor and Jennifer Brunner for Secretary of State.