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Stivers' supporters sue Brunner over provisional ballots Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:03 PM By Mark Niquette THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A new lawsuit has been filed against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner arguing that she is telling the Franklin County Board of Elections to count provisional ballots that state law says should be rejected. The case, filed in the Ohio Supreme Court, could affect the 15th Congressional District race and two Ohio House contests where the number of uncounted provisional ballots is higher than the unofficial vote margin separating the candidates. The lawsuit was filed by two Franklin County voters on...

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat under fire from Republicans for her handling of the presidential election, says things turned out just fine at the polls. She made the comments on Thursday, Nov. 6, in an e-mail from her campaign committee - she’s expected to seek re-election in 2010 - not from the secretary of state’s office. Without naming her predecessor, she also criticized outgoing Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. “With a dedicated and talented team, hard working boards of elections and the help of many others who care deeply about democracy, Ohio has turned the corner...

A Warren County magistrate said he'll decide tomorrow whether Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has to get proof that Barack Obama was born in the United States.

When the Supreme Court vacated the stay that had been issued in Ohio Republican Party v. Brunner last week, it did so based on the view that the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) does not authorize a lawsuit by a private party. The stay had ordered the Ohio Secretary of State to comply with the requirement in HAVA to verify the accuracy of the information provided on voter registration applications. The Supreme Court took some pains to make clear it was not disputing the district court and the Sixth Circuit’s en banc legal conclusion that Brunner was violating...

Columbus-area man has been charged with making a death threat against Ohio's top elections official. The State Highway Patrol says Dana McArtor, 51, of 687 Riviera Court in Hamilton Township, was arrested yesterday and charged with intimidation in connection with a threat phoned in last week to the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega said a caller on Oct. 17 threatened to kill Brunner. McArtor was being held last night in the Franklin County jail without bond, pending an appearance in county Municipal Court this morning. The intimidation charge is a third-degree felony punishable by...

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien is telling the presidential campaigns in Ohio that if their out-of-state staff members are just passing through for the Nov. 4 election with no plans to remain, they shouldn't vote in the state, either. O'Brien has spoken to attorneys for both campaigns and asked election officials to review the residency status of John McCain's and Barack Obama's staff members, as well as those of other get-out-the-vote groups, who have few Ohio ties but registered and requested absentee ballots. "One thing that is crystal-clear is the law -- if you are a temporary resident or a...

In Ohio, Charges Fly in Fight Over Absentee BallotsBy Mary Pat Flaherty Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 21, 2008; Page A05 Ohio Democrats and Republicans traded accusations yesterday as they continue to battle over absentee ballots and other voting issues. The charges came after a county prosecutor in Cincinnati subpoenaed the Hamilton County Elections Board for the records of 266 new voters who cast absentee ballots during a week-long period in September and early October, when Ohio residents could register and vote on the same day. County prosecutor Joseph T. Deters said he subpoenaed the records because a preliminary...

Brunner wants suit over voter registration moved to federal courtPosted by Reginald Fields/Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau October 20, 2008 10:44AM COLUMBUS -- Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner today asked that a case filed Friday at the Ohio Supreme Court be moved to a federal court in Columbus because the suit primarily deals with a question regarding the Help America Vote Act, a federal statute. The lawsuit was filed by Columbus-area Republican fund-raiser David Myhal, whose firm has helped the election campaigns of four of the seven justices on the all-Republican Ohio Supreme Court. After the U.S. Supreme Court Friday...

We are told that we should ignore the obvious voter registration fraud of ACORN because the Ohio Secretary of State says these registration discrepancies are likely nothing more than data entry errors. Yet she has fought every single effort to allow the county elections boards to have access to the BVM and Social Security databases so that they could make that determination themselves. The question is why? Perhaps this explains it. Glitches fill Ohio voter rolls In Hamilton County, 17 people are registered to vote from riverfront addresses south of Mehring Way - places with street numbers that would put...

People line up to go to the Lorain County Board of Elections during a voter registration drive earlier this month.Having lost before the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit involving the verification of new voter registrations, Republicans now are turning to the Ohio Supreme Court. David Myhal, a Republican from New Albany, filed a lawsuit this afternoon asking the state's highest court to issue an order related to instances when new voter information doesn't match records in state or federal databases. Specifically, the lawsuit asks the Ohio Supreme Court to require Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to order county elections...

Under Ohio's constitution and laws, there are two ways to remove a statewide elected official: impeachment by the legislature, or through a complaint signed by at least 603,413 qualified electors that is filed and tried in court.The constitution says an officeholder can be impeached "for any misdemeanor in office," but that doesn't necessarily refer to a crime, said Steven F. Huefner, an associate law professor at Ohio State University, and Steven H. Steinglass, a law professor and dean emeritus at Cleveland State University. Rather, "misdemeanor" in this context refers more generically to any misdeed, and that ultimately is defined by...

To be filed under “suspicions confirmed,” patently partisan-for-Obama supporter Democrat Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer “I-never-met-an-ACORN-worker-I-didn’t-like” Brunner has stomped her feet and decided that she should not be required to do her job; that of protecting Ohio voters from election fraud.  She has also decided that she will elicit help from the US Supreme Court in upholding her desire.

As I suggested in a previous post, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer might appeal the decision by the US Court of Appeals requiring her to verify voter registrations to the Supreme Court. Well, unfortunately I was correct. Vote case appealed to U.S. Supreme Court If county election officials can’t verify that mismatched Ohioans are qualified to vote, they can ask voters to cast provisional ballots rather than regular ones until residency or other identification is checked. Their votes could be counted after Election Day or not counted at all. Brunner, in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said she...

Updated: The tip was accurate, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer got the story out first. See update after background. Okay, that's what we have at the moment. Yesterday's majority decision, penned by former Ohio Solicitor Jeffrey Sutton, said, "Nothing about this case, or the relief (Ohio Republicans, who brought the suit) seek will allow them to prevent a single voter from casting a ballot in the November election ... "At most, the identification of a mismatch allows a county board to investigate whether the mismatch has a legitimate explanation (say, a recent change of address)." The practical effect, Sutton...

A 3-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated a temporary restraining order which would effectively make Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner follow the law - and do her job - in preventing election fraud. Tonight, the full court decided to hear the case en banc, and has reimposed the TRO. This is great news.

The reporters from Palestra.net just posted a look at what they've found so far in Ohio's early voting period. It's long, but really interesting and pretty damning. They've got the requisite ACORN "victim" talking about registering so often she can't even guess how many times she's signed up. However there's also some really interesting stuff about supposedly non-partisan volunteers pushing for people to vote for Obama, groups bringing in large numbers of homeless people to vote, and people not having to show IDs to vote. They've done a really good job pushing this story so far (two of their reporters...

Anyone know if they're appealing? They should.

CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court sided with Ohio's top elections official Friday in her running battle with Republicans over how to verify the eligibility of newly registered voters. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a federal judge's order a day earlier that Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner institute the means to verify voter registration information and make it available to Ohio's 88 county election boards.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled tonight. “It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States,” said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in Columbus, in upholding the Ohio Republican Party’s request for a court order. Smith, appointed by President Reagan, said the Help America Vote Act requires states not only to verify the identity of newly registered voters...

Brunner's ballot policy illegal, judge rules Thursday, October 9, 2008 8:09 PM By Darrel Rowland and Mark Niquette THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent, a federal judge ruled tonight. "It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States," said Judge George C. Smith of U.S. District Court in Columbus, in agreeing with the Ohio Republican Party's request for a court order. Smith,...