John McCain's Southwest Ohio campaign chairman, who doubles as Hamilton County's prosecutor, is picking up where his buddy Ken Blackwell left off in 2004: trying to use his official office powers to pursue his party's political goals in the statewide presidential election.
This story posted this afternoon by the Cincinnati Enquirer gives the nauseating details about how Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters, no stranger to scandal from his failed stint as Ohio treasurer, has jumped on the ACORN/vote fraud bandwagon by launching his own grand jury investigation.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, who serves as John McCain’s Southwest Ohio campaign chairman, has requested personal information for some individuals who registered and immediately cast a ballot during a weeklong period that ended earlier this month.
Deters issued a subpoena on Friday for complete registration records for roughly 40 percent of the 671 voters who registered and cast a ballot between Sept. 30, when early voting began, and Oct. 6, the deadline for voter registration.
(more)
Of course, two obvious problems jump right out at you in that first snippet: "Southwest Ohio campaign chairman" and "671 voters." Deters has no business pursuing this matter himself because of his position with the campaign (just as Blackwell had no business running Ohio's elections in 2004 because of his status as Dubyah's state campaign chair). And even allowing for the possibility that there could be some legitimacy to such an investigation, we are talking about 40 percent of 671 voters, or about a pool of 260 voters, a microscopic sampling of even the county's voting population, let alone the state's.
The goal is obvious, though: do what you can to try and add another chapter to this storyline you are trying to spin about widespread voter fraud, in hopes of energizing your base and, at a minimum, sullying the circumstances of any Obama victory in the state.
Excuse me for a second, while I pause to wretch...
It was unclear why the subpoena – which also calls upon the county’s election director and deputy director to testify before the grand jury – doesn’t ask for records of all voters from the weeklong window.
Under a public records request, the Ohio GOP has asked for records of all voters who cast a ballot during the window in all 88 Ohio counties – but those records won’t include personal information because the request doesn’t carry the power of a subpoena.
The records handed over as a result of Deters’ subpoena would be unredacted.
Obviously, confidentiality and privacy issues are in play here from the chunk above, but hey, why let those get in the way when you've got a political agenda to pursue?
Now, there is a process in place by current Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for dealing with fraud complaints, but I suppose the priveleged, brass-knuckle swinging local GOP feels like they don't mean to demean themselves by following due process when they have one of their own in a hatchet man position they can rely on:
The fraud allegations that led to the Hamilton County grand jury investigation did not come from local election officials, said county elections board Deputy Director John Williams.
Brunner has ordered counties to immediately investigate any claims of fraud, and report the findings to county prosecutors and to her office.
"This office is unaware of any specific allegations of illegal voting out of that county," said Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega.
Williams said his office has received numerous calls from concerned citizens about the potential for voter fraud, and has heard anecdotal reports.
An Ohio State law prof who is an expert on elections provides the obvious color commentary on today's action:
"This is extremely worrisome when a partisan official engages in conduct that could reasonably be interpreted as voter intimidation and voter suppression," Tokaji said. "This appears to be part of a concerted strategy on the part of some elements of the Republican Party to exaggerate voting fraud in an effort to suppress participation."
I'm not a Cassandra who likes to overstate things for dramatic effect, but thinking about this story and then about all the hijinks that were never explained or covered up by Republican election officials in local counties in 2004, I have to wonder: Are we nearing the point where my rights as a voter to participate in a fair and impartial election in Ohio have disappeared? I can't believe I'm having to write that in 2008, but I can't draw any other conclusion while resting in the shadow of a political machine that will apparently do anything within its capabilities to retain power.